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THE 

GAME of PLANNING 
A HOUSE 


BY 

DAN SCOATES 

i \ 


SOUTHW E S T P R E S S 

I) A L L A S , TEX A S 















isfM iz ' 1 
<o*\ 


Copyright, 1933 
DAN SCOATES / 


SEP 25 1S33 

\ 

©Clft 66243 <J 



To 

<SMy ^Mother 
who taught me to love 
a home 



PREFACE 


T his volume is offered as a solution to a very perplexing 
problem which confronts almost everyone some time during 
his life,—that is, the designing of a house. It is written primarily 
for the layman, and his limitations are kept continually in mind in 
the preparation of this work. 

The ideas herein given are not in any way to take the place of 
the architect in the designing of a house, but rather to assist the 
layman in getting together, in an orderly and thoughtful way, his 
ideas relative to the house he wishes to construct. It is to help him 
to discover all the mistakes that it is possible to find in the house 
to be built before the final drawings and specifications are made. 
The plan is to give the layman a method of operation that will 
enable him step by step to work out the design for a house and to 
carry this planning through in a systematic and progressive way. 

The contents of this volume are based on years of experience 
as a teacher in colleges and as a designer and builder. In addition, 
considerable original investigation work has been done not only by 
the author, but by his students and co-workers, as well. 

The research work on this subject has brought forth results 
that are so outstanding and that have received such a warm recep¬ 
tion among those interested in small house design that consider¬ 
able demand has come for something in published form that will 
make available the results of this study. 

It is hoped that this volume will be a source of help to laymen 
who are considering the building of small homes, to students in 
colleges and universities studying small house design, to lumber¬ 
men and the building material trade in assisting their customers. 
Then, too, architects may find use for it in dealing with their 
clients; and it has been suggested that architects may find this 

V 


VI 


Preface 


system a means of “plastically” developing the initial “sketch of 
the floor plan” on their drawing boards. 

Acknowledgment is hereby given to all who have helped in 
various ways in working up this material. This publication was 
helped materially by the courtesy of the following in allowing 
the use of copyrighted illustrations from their publications which 
may not be reproduced without their permission: The Architects’ 
Small House Service Bureau, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota; The 
American Face Brick Association, Chicago, Illinois; The Common 
Brick Manufacturers’ Association of America, Cleveland, Ohio, 
and The Southwest Clay Products Institute, Dallas, Texas. Also, 
The Southern Ruralist, Atlanta, Georgia, permitted the use of ma¬ 
terial they had collected on houses. 

The author is especially indebted to Lois P. Dowdle, Ernest 
Langford, Morgan I). E. Hite, C. A. Cobb, and S. C. P. Vosper 
for their valuable suggestions relative to this manuscript. 

It is the author’s sincere hope that this contribution to the 
house planning literature may assist many in getting a better and 
more carefully planned house than they would have otherwise 
obtained. 

Dan Scoates. 

College Station, Texas 

M«rch 1, 1933. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

Frontispiece 

Preface . v 

I. The Problem. 1 

II. Size of Rooms. 8 

III. Standard Sizes of Rooms .37 

IV. Arrangement of Rooms. 41 

V. Size of Houses. 78 

VI. The Game Starts.82 

VII. Finishing the Best Solution.112 

VIII. Visualizing the Complete Plan.123 

IX. What About the Outside?.138 

X. Remodeling. 140 

Bibliography.145 


vii 





















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Chapter I 


THE PROBLEM 

The present prospective home or house builder (and I like 
to think o£ him as a home builder) attacks the building of a home 
in what seems to me to be a very unsatisfactory way. The pro¬ 
cedure is something like this: He and his wife decide to build a 
house. They customarily think it over for some time and arrive 
at two very definite facts regarding this house: first, the number 
of rooms j second, the amount of money to spend on it. (Usually, 
when the house is finally constructed, they have stayed pretty well 
within the number of rooms that they wanted in the house, but 
have run over the amount they planned to spend.) 

With these two facts they approach a lumberman, architect, 
contractor, or carpenter. They ask for help in designing this home. 
In some cases the prospective builders have gone so far as to look 
over house plans and have in mind something regarding room ar¬ 
rangement. Ordinarily, however, they approach the above-named 
people with just the two mentioned facts and a need of help. The 
architect, lumberman, or contractor, as a general rule, handles the 
situation by giving this prospective owner one, two, or more books 
of plans with the suggestion that he look those over and pick out 
the plan that best suits him. 

The prospective builder takes these plan books home and studies 
them in an effort to find some plan that has been worked out that 
will fit into his needs. The plan books, however, may not contain 
just exactly what is wanted j so the plan nearest to what he wants 
is selected. Then the architect changes it, often preparing several 
“sketch plans,” in such a way as to meet the desires of the owner; 
eliminates anything too expensive, or of an otherwise impractical 

1 


2 The Game of Planning a Holtse 

nature j and the plan is then given its final shape, and the specifi¬ 
cations are written. All is worked out to the satisfaction of the 
prospective builder. 

That is the way most of the homes are planned and built. 
Sometimes so satisfactory a set-up is not worked out. Frequently, 
I have seen homes that were constructed from just a rough sketch 
of a floor plan with a picture of the final house that was cut from 
a magazine. The floor plan and the picture might be of two dif¬ 
ferent houses, but the builder who does this kind of work brings 
the two ideas together to the best of his ability. This is a very 
crude way to plan and to build. A much better home is obtained 
if one follows some system whereby plans and specifications are 
worked out for the house, because it is only through the use of 
expert help with special training that one gets the best final 
structure. 

Money is saved by any process which allows working out the 
details in some way before construction begins, rather than the 
wasteful correction of errors after the actual building is started. 

There seem to be many mistakes made in the building of a 
house, even when its construction has received attention from the 
best informed designers. Therefore, it is very poor economy to 
avoid the necessary preliminary work, because it inevitably leads to 
avoidable mistakes, and waste in space, building materials, and 
labor—all of which represent money loss. Consequently, it is to 
one’s advantage to employ an architect or some trained house de¬ 
signer to put one’s plans in final shape before construction is started, 
if one not only wants to get the most for his money but also wants 
to have the least trouble with the house afterwards. 

Now, what is wrong with the method of house planning that 
is so widely used at the present time? In fact, it seems to be the 
only method used, and this is true largely because there has not 
been any other way to go about it up to the present time. 

The greatest trouble with this method is that the problem of 
designing the house does not start with all the fundamentals and 


The Problem 


3 


work up systematically, in progressive steps, to a final solution 
of the problem. 

The prospective builder starts with two facts and then looks 
over a number of other people’s solutions of similar problems in 
an effort to find a ready-made solution to his own. These other 
people may live in the city, while he may be building a home in 
the country. The reverse may be true. Or the plans he looks over 
may be for northern climate, while he is to build his house in a 
southern state. The setting into which a house goes has a very de¬ 
cided bearing on its construction; and the plans he is studying 
may be designed for another width lot or entirely different loca¬ 
tion, with its many features that need to be considered in house 
designing. 

He is building the house or home to meet some definite re¬ 
quirements. They may be those of his own family. If that is true, 
the members of the family have their own peculiarities and their 
own ideas of just what a home should be. This affords an oppor¬ 
tunity to express one’s self in a very concrete way. One’s tastes, 
likes, dislikes, and personality can be embodied in this habitat. 
Every family has its ideals of what a home ought to be in order 
to be the most enjoyable from its viewpoint; here is the chance 
to embody these ideals in a very substantial way. These ideals may 
or may not receive due consideration. In most cases there are 
many things to be considered in the designing of a home, and, in 
looking over plans which have already been designed, some phases 
may fit the problem under consideration and others may not. Since 
all the requirements of the home are hard to keep in mind, some 
may be overlooked in the study of plans developed by others for 
their own needs. So, fundamentally, this idea of taking somebody 
else’s solution to the home problem and trying to fit it into one’s 
own solution does not always work out to the best advantage. 

Another very decided objection to the existing method is that 
it does not provoke original thinking. One is taking somebody 
else’s solution to his own problem, which is following the tend¬ 
ency of this age,—“to let George do it.” One looks over plans 


4 


The Game of Planning a House 


and accepts one in toto rather than trying to shift it around and get 
it in the shape it should be. Th s is bad from the standpoint of 
getting the maximum benefit out of the house, because after the 
house is constructed along these lines it is often found that it does 
not measure up fully to the needs of the inhabitants. Then it is too 
late to do any changing, and one lives long and continually with 
the mistakes. 

It is, therefore, important that much constructive thought be 
put on the design of the home to be built. Equally as important 
is it that this thinking be done in a methodical, progressive, and 
systematic way, in order that the house plan may grow from a 
simple start to its final shape. 

There is still another objection to these plan book solutions. 
That is, they do not, as a rule, contain a wide variety of solutions 
of final plans from which to select. In my analysis of plan books 
I found that the designers of these houses ride hobbies. They use 
a few fundamental shapes, follow these through, make many 
solutions of these shapes, but do not give anything else. Then, too, 
strange as it may seem, many of these designers use the very 
same shapes, so they do not offer a wide selection of shapes. So in 
just looking over plan books one does not get an opportunity to 
view and study a large variety of solutions to the problem on which 
one is working. 

It seems that prospective house owners should take the two 
fundamental facts that they always have and from these two facts 
develop other facts and then put them all together to get the 
solution of their problem. 

I have called this method of solving the house planning prob¬ 
lem “The Game of Planning a House,” because it does work itself 
very nicely into a game, and if taken in that spirit the best and 
largest number of solutions can be obtained. Of course, as a result 
of all this work the final answer is much more workable because of 
the wide number of solutions from which it was selected. 

With the prospective builder knowing how many rooms he 
is going to put in the house, as well as how much money he is 


The Problem 


5 


going to spend for construction, the next decision to make is what 
sizes are to be used for the various rooms. These are not difficult 
facts to obtain. The local contractor can tell approximately how 
much will be the cost per square foot of a house of the type one 
intends to build. With this information, by dividing the total sum 
by the cost per square foot, one can find the square foot area, or 
how large the house will be on the ground. For example, if one 
is building a five-room house and has $3,000 to put into it, and if 
the local contractor says that the cost of construction, considering 
the class, grade, and type of house desired, will be $3.00 per 
square foot; then there will be 1,000 square feet in the floor plan. 

Now, with the total square foot area of the plan available, the 
next thing to do is to decide what sizes of rooms are desired. This 
is really a simple thing to do, but it will take some study. To help 
a little, let me say that in the study of small-room homes I found 
that there does not seem to be any set rule as to just what part of 
the total space to allot to the various rooms and parts of the house. 
However, this analysis of the farm homes, ready-cut houses, and 
architects’ plans seems to indicate that the following is a fairly good 
general allotment of space: 

1/10 of the total floor space for kitchen 
1/6 of the total floor space for dining room 
1/4 of the total floor space for living room 
1/3 of the total floor space for bedrooms 
1/6 of the total floor space for halls, closets, and 
bathrooms. 

These will give an idea of about how to apportion the space; 
then by changing and rearranging, one will arrive at the size of 
rooms needed. A more detailed discussion of just what size rooms 
are advisable to use will be found in the next chapter. 

The point is that the next step is to decide on the size and shape 
of each room, closet, etc. In this way the builder will find out what 
size rooms he would like to use. This, no doubt, will lead him to 


6 


The Game of Planning a House 


investigate the sizes of rooms used for various purposes, to measure 
rooms in his friends’ homes, and in other ways to check up and find 
out exactly what sizes of rooms best meet his needs. 

With these room sizes decided, the next step is to arrange the 
rooms in various shapes. In the study made it was found that for 
the small house (4 to 9 or 10 rooms) the rooms, in practically 
every case, are put together in only eleven fundamental shapes. 
But these rooms can be arranged together in not one but a number 
of different ways in each shape. Therefore, a small house, with 
the room sizes remaining the same, can be arranged in at least thirty 
different ways without very much trouble. 

Recently, I had a group of women studying the planning of a 
five-room house with definite size rooms, and they obtained, in a 
very short time, twenty-nine solutions, nine of which were for one 
shape. There is no doubt that if they could have been given more 
time, they would have obtained many more arrangements. 

A large number of solutions to any house problem offers an 
excellent opportunity to make the best possible selection to meet the 
family needs, and to give due consideration to the house in its rela¬ 
tion to location, climate, and all other important limitations that 
come into the construction of a dwelling. 

When one has selected from these thirty or more plans the 
solution that best meets his needs j then this solution can be set up 
to a definite scale size, windows and doors put in, and the furniture 
arranged inside the house. In this way, one can see just how the 
entire inside of the house will look and be arranged when it is 
finally finished. In other words, the house is visualized and one 
sees the plan of it in as definite a way as it is possible to do before 
actual construction is completed. The way the doors swing, the 
location of windows, and the placing of all the furniture are parts 
of the game of designing a house, which carries through as far as 
one can go before the final plans and specifications are drawn up. 

This method of visualizing a house appeals to many people 
because they are unable to understand a blue print. They are not 
trained to know what a blue print means, because it is made up of 


The Problem 


7 


signs and symbols, all of which are clear to the profession but mys¬ 
terious to the average layman. 

So this is the way the game of planning a house is played j a 
synopsis of the plan that will be taken up in the subsequent chap¬ 
ters of this book. 


Chapter II 


SIZE OF ROOMS 

The first step in the solution of the problem of planning a 
home—after deciding on the number of rooms in the house and 
the amount to spend on its construction, from which has been ob¬ 
tained the total floor space available—is to determine the size of 
individual rooms. 

There is little information to be had on this subject. This is 
probably because sizes of rooms vary so much with the individual 
needs. There is some help to be had, but at best it is meager. More 
work has been done on some rooms than on others. The kitchen, 
for example, has received more attention than any other room, 
because it is the workshop of the house and needs to be efficiently 
arranged and equipped. Its size, arrangement, and design are the 
subject of many publications. The next most discussed room is the 
living room. But, all in all, there is comparatively little available 
to guide one in the choice of room sizes. In an attempt to find out 
what sizes of the various rooms were used more than any other, 
hundreds of plans, which included plans of homes already con¬ 
structed, plans given in the books of ready-cut house companies, as 
well as those of architects, were studied and analyzed. 

The plans of homes which were already constructed were of 
farm homes scattered throughout the country, some from each 
section. These were representative homes of farm folk, because 
the plans either were sent in as a result of a contest in farm home 
improvement or surveyed by special persons. In this study of farm 
houses there were over one thousand such plans used. 

In the ready-cut houses the plan books of five national ready- 
cut companies were analyzed. 


8 


Size of Rooms 


9 


In the study made of the architects’ plans those of the Archi¬ 
tects’ Small House Service Bureau and some of the national 
material associations were studied. 

From this it will be seen that a very representative cross section 
of available plans were considered. However, I would caution the 
prospective builder to take these sizes only as indicative or as a 
starting point, and to study out carefully the sizes desired for his 
own purposes. 

In considering the farm home survey material, it must be 
remembered that while there were many of these homes studied 
and they came from throughout the country, yet they were prob¬ 
ably not constructed with an idea of giving the greatest efficiency 
or the maximum of comfort. A large number of them had been 
built long ago, when the arrangement of a house was considered 
unimportant. Others were constructed with very limited finances 
as well as a lack of available sources of help to do a better job. It 
will be noted, however, that with all their limitations the rooms 
are spacious,—a desirable quality in a farm home, or any home for 
that matter. 

On the other hand, it will be found that the ready-cut people 
are using small rooms, many of which are of a minimum possible 
size. Their idea, no doubt, is to give the most rooms for the least 
money. These people are selling houses. They want their merchan¬ 
dise to look like the biggest possible value for the number of dol¬ 
lars. For a little house to look big, it must have many rooms. There 
are many situations in which these small-room houses are desirable. 
I am not attempting to find fault with them at all, but rather cau¬ 
tioning the prospective builder to be on his guard and to be in a 
questioning mood in order that he may have a home or house that 
is entirely satisfactory when it is finally built. 

The sizes of rooms in the architects’ plans are about a happy 
medium between those used in the two other types of plans. These 
architects’ plans are, however, for detached houses with grounds 
for suburban, town, and city use. If the house being planned is for 
suburban, town, or city use, these plans are more valuable as a 


10 


The Game of Planning a House 


guide than they are if the house being planned is for the country. 

The five-room house is given considerable attention in this 
study because it is one of the most popular sizes; but as far as is 
known now, the sizes of rooms for a five-room house do not vary 
much from that of other houses with a small number of rooms. 
Therefore, in this discussion of sizes of rooms all through this 
work I shall confine my remarks largely to the house with a small 
number of rooms, say from two up to nine or ten. The two and 
three-room houses are usually prospects for additions, while the 
ten-room house can use many sizes of rooms. 

In selecting the dimensions of the rooms, we shall first consider 
the shape. It seems to be pretty well agreed that the rectangular is 
much more satisfactory than the square room. Architects and home 
economists are unanimous on this point. Varnum 1 gives the follow¬ 
ing formula as a guide to this perplexing part of the problem: 

“A primary mass should have a ratio of one to three, three to 
four, three to five, five to eight, seven to ten, or some similar pro¬ 
portion difficult for the eye to detect readily and analyze. . . . Cer¬ 
tain ratios are monotonous and offend the eye by their lack of 
variety. Ratios such as one to one or one to two are of this class 
and should be avoided. If these ratios could speak they would 
resemble people talking in a low monotonous tone of voice.” 

To one who has forgotten parts of his arithmetic I may say 
that a ratio of one to three would mean that one dimension of the 
room is three times that of the other; that is, a room three feet by 
nine feet would have a ratio of one to three because three times 
three equals nine. Or a ratio of three to five would mean that if 
one dimension is a multiple of some number three times, then the 
other dimension is a multiple of the same number five times. For 
example, consider a living room which is twelve feet by twenty 
feet long. This room has a ratio of three to five because the twelve- 
foot side is three times four (3x4) and the other side, the 20-foot 
side, is five times four (5x4). A number of architects seem to like 

1 Varnum > William H. Industrial Arts Design. The Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Illinois. 
1916. 


Size of Rooms 


11 


the ratio of three to five, particularly for the living room. They 
do not, however, follow absolutely the figures given by the ratio. 
For example, a popular size living room used by the architect for 
the small house is 13 feet by 19 feet, which is not a true three to 
five ratio. It is 3 to 4-5/13. 

A ratio of this sort is just a guide post and not to be taken too 
literally. Another important point in this regard is that all the 
rooms in the house do not necessarily need to be rectangular. One 
architect of my acquaintance, who designs a large number of small 
houses, holds that the living room and kitchen should be rectangu¬ 
lar and that the rest may be square, or any shape desirable from 
the utility standpoint. 

An additional reason for having rectangular rooms seems to 
be that they not only allow the windows and doors to be placed 
to the best advantage, but allow the furniture to be arranged much 
more satisfactorily. Anyway, what we need to know is more about 
room shapes and sizes. In the future someone will do a very funda¬ 
mental piece of work along that line. Well, be that as it may, here 
is something that this study brought to light on this vital subject: 

KITCHEN 

The sizes and arrangements of kitchens have been worked on 
to a very considerable extent. The home demonstration people, as 
well as the kitchen equipment experts and the home economists, 
have all given more thought to kitchen design than to that of any 
other room in the house. This is true probably because of the fact 
that, as has been pointed out, the kitchen is the workshop of the 
housewife j therefore it comes in for more serious consideration. 
There are many excellent bulletins and publications to be had, 
usually without charge, from the various state colleges, universities, 
government agencies, and kitchen equipment manufacturers 2 deal¬ 
ing not only with the arrangement, size, and shape of kitchens, but 
other rooms as well. 

2 In each state there is a land-grant institution which may be either an agricultural and 
mechanical college or a university with such college as a part of it. These institutions have 
home economics departments and agricultural engineering departments doing extension and 


12 


The Game of Planning a House 


In my study of farm homes I found that the 10x12, 12x14, 
and 10x14 kitchens were the most popular. Two surveys of farm 
home room sizes were analyzed; one of which was taken from the 
plans accumulated by the Southern Ruralist (Atlanta, Georgia), 
and the other from material for the President’s Home Building 
and Home Ownership Conference. The former survey had to do 
with plans from the southern states only. It was, however, a very 
representative sample (278 plans) from all of these states. The 
latter survey included the entire United States and contained 738 
plans. The kitchen areas (square feet) which were popular in the 
country as a whole, in order of their popularity, are: 140 to 149.9; 
120 to 129.9; 190 to 199.9. The survey of the southern homes 
shows that there the areas line up as follows: 160 to 169.9; 140 to 
149.9; 120 to 129.9. 

The analysis of something over 200 plans of ready-cut houses 
disclosed that the designers did not adhere to any one of several 
particular sizes, but seemed to run through a large range of sizes, 
there being 105 different sizes of kitchens in the 200 plans. The 
sizes range from 5^4 feet xlO feet to 12 feet x 13 feet. Many of 
the ready-cut house plans had the sizes of rooms in fractions of a 
foot down to as small as inches. 3 By that I mean not 6 inches or J4 

research work. This work is done on State and Federal Government funds, and the results of 
the research are published in bulletins which are distributed, without charge, to residents of the 
state. A list of these bulletins can be obtained by addressing the extension service or the experi¬ 
ment stations of these colleges or universities. 

There are two bureaus in the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., 
which are doing work and issuing publications dealing with house designs and construction: 
namely, Bureau of Home Economics and Bureau of Agricultural Engineering. The United States 
Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C., also gets out some publications dealing with the 
same subject. 

The manufacturers of house equipment, particularly that used in kitchens and bathrooms, 
as well as the other rooms in the house, issue some very fine publications that contain valuable 
information along this line. These manufacturers advertise liberally in women’s and other 
periodicals that carry house plans. 

3 It will be noted that the survey of the farm home plans gave rooms always in even num¬ 
ber of feet like 10x12, 14x14, etc., while in the results from the survey of ready-cut and 
architects’ plans, more often than not, the sizes of rooms are in odd feet like 7x11, 13x19, etc. 
This can be explained by the fact that the farm women who made up the farm home plans 
gave size of rooms as including the partitions and walls, while the architect cuts them off the 
room sizes. To be more specific, lumber comes in even foot lengths, 10, 12, 14, 16, etc. To 
build a house economically, we must eliminate wastej so it is desirable to use these lengths of 


Size of Rooms 


13 


Table No. 1— KITCHEN SIZES 


Prevailing Sizes as shown by 
Analysis of House Plans 


ARCHITECTS’ 

HOUSES 

Area Area 

Choice Sq. Feet 

Room Dimension Choice for Areas 

First Second Third 

First 90- 99.9 

9 x 11 8 x 12| 9 x 10 

Second 100-109.9 

8 x 12* 8§x 11 9 x 12 

Third 110-119.9 

10 X 11 9 X 13 9§x 12 

Fourth 80- 89.9 

8 x 10 8 x 11 7jx lli 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

9 X 11 10 X 11 8 X n\ 

READY-CUT 

HOUSES 

First 80- 89.9 

8 x 10 8ix 10 8Jx 11 

Second 90- 99.9 

8 x 12 8Jx lli 9x11 

Third 100-109.9 

8|x lli 10 X 10 10 X 10i 

Fourth 120-129.9 

10 x 12 9*x 13J 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

8 x 10 8§x 10 8 x 12 

NATION-WIDE 
FARM HOUSES 

First 140-149.9 

10 x 14 12 x 12 11 x 13 

Second 120-129.9 

10 x 12 9 x 14 11 x 11 

Third 190-199.9 

14 x 14 12 x 16 13 x 15 

Fourth 160-169.9 

12 x 14 10 x 16 11 x 15 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

10 X 12 12 X 14 14 X 14 

SOUTHERN 
FARM HOUSES 

First 160-169.9 

12 x 14 10 x 16 11 x 15 

Second 140-149.9 

10 x 14 12 x 12 

Third 120-129.9 

10 x 12 8 x 16 9 x 14 

Fourth 190-199.9 

12 x 16 14 x 14 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

12 x 14 10 x 14 10 x 12 
































14 


The Game of Planning a House 


foot, but in 1,2, and 3 inches, etc. For the sake of this study I put 
them in groups to the nearest ^ of a foot. Of all the ready-cut 
house plans the most popular size of the kitchen in the various areas 
was 8 x 10 , with the other first choice sizes given in order being 8 x 12 , 
8^4x11J4, and 10 x 12 . When considered from an area standpoint, 
the three most popular intervals for the kitchens were in the fol¬ 
lowing order: 80 to 89.9; 90 to 99.9, and 100 to 109.9 square feet. 

The architects, in their plans, as a general rule, seem to prefer 
a little larger size than the ready-cut folk. In an analysis of 142 
plans drawn by architects there were 76 different sizes ranging 
from 5}ix 7J4 to 14x18. The size they most preferred, however, 
was the 9x11 kitchen, with the following dimensions next in pref¬ 
erence: 10 x 11 , 8x12*4? 8xl2}4, and 8 ^ 2 x 11 . The popular areas 
were in the following order: 90 to 99.9; 100 to 109.9; 110 to 
119.9. One architect tells me he found an allotment of 127 square 
feet for the kitchen ideal for ordinary residences using dimensions 
of 9x13 plus the built-in cabinets. 

A summary of the results of these various surveys with refer¬ 
ence to the kitchen is given in Table No. 1 , Kitchen Sizes. 

The Committee on Kitchens and Other Work Centers, the 
President’s Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership 
(1931), in its report 4 recommended nine different types of kitch¬ 
ens with their sizes, as follows: 

TYPE KITCHENS 

I. Wall kitchen—Planned to occupy one end or an alcove off the living 
room. 

II. Small separate kitchen—For apartment of two rooms, planned without or 
with an adjoining alcove. 

III. Kitchens for apartments of three to five rooms or for small one-family 
houses—Planned for women doing all own work without any paid 
service. 

timber and not cut them off and throw part of them away. Therefore, in selecting the joists, 
the timbers that hold up the floor, we use even foot lengths. Now, as it is usually necessary to 
take six inches off each end for walls or partitions, making a foot in all to come off the even 
foot length of timber, we have an odd foot size for a room. 

4 The President’s Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership. Tentative Report 
of the Committee on Kitchens and Other Work Centers. Washington, 1931. 


Size of Rooms 


15 


IV. Kitchens for larger one-family houses—Without any paid service. 

V. Rural kitchens—Planned for women without paid service. 

VI. Workroom to supplement rural kitchen. 

VII. Rural kitchen—With outside help. 

VIII. Apartment kitchen—For maid service. 

IX. Kitchen for detached house—One full-time maid. 

The report also contained diagrams of the various kitchens, 
showing arrangement of equipment. The sizes for the different 
types of kitchens are given in Table No. 2. 

The kitchen is a pretty hard room about which to generalize. 
When the kitchen is designed, the uses to which it is to be put, as 
well as the likes and dislikes of the builder or user, play a big part 
in determining the size of the room. 

There is a wide range of sizes for the kitchen, because it is 
used by people in different localities and different walks of life 
whose demands on the room vary. The western and middle west 
homes use a smaller kitchen than the southern homes use. Some 
city people use small kitchens, while country folk more often allot 
more space to the kitchen. City apartment houses frequently have 
very small kitchens, or, as they are called, kitchenettes, as small as 
our mother’s pantry used to be. The people in these apartments, 
as a rule, do not have need for a large kitchen, because the prod¬ 
ucts they consume are purchased and handled in small quantities. 
It does not follow, though, that all people living in cities use 
small kitchens, because some of the urban homes have conditions 
which demand large kitchens. The present tendency, however, in 
both rural and urban homes is away from the very large kitchen 
of olden days, especially so far as the small home is concerned. 

In spite of the trend toward smaller kitchens, there is some¬ 
thing to be said in favor of the large kitchen. By large I mean, 
not all out of reason in size, but large within the range of sizes 
herein shown. There are many purposes served by the kitchen in 
addition to its being a place for the preparation of food. A small 
breakfast table may be placed in the kitchen and the room made to 
serve as a combination kitchen and dining room. (You know, many 
of us eat in the kitchen—were brought up that way and haven’t 


16 


The Game of Planning a House 


Table No. 2— KITCHEN AND PANTRY SIZES 


Recommended by The Committee on Kitchens and Other Work Centers, The President's 
Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership (1931) 




Kitchen 

Pantry 

Type 

Design 







No. 


Width 

Length 

Sq. ft. 

Width 

Length 

Sq. ft. 

BA 

Wall 

4' 8" 

8' 3" 

38.5 




B 


4'8" 

S' 

37.3 






4'6" 

9' 

40.5 






4' 8" 

9' 3" 

43.5 




C 


5' 

9'6" 

47.5 




II-A 

Small Apartment 

6' 9" 

7' 

46.6 




B 


7' 

S' 6" 

59.5 




C 


5' 6" 

7' 

38.5 




III-A 

Apartment or 
Small single house 

6' 6" 

S'6" 

55.25 




B 


6' 6" 

8' 

52 




C 


6'8" 

S' 

53.3 




IV-A 

Larger One-Family 
House—no maid 

6' 6" 

10' 6" 

68.25 






7' 

12' 

84 




V-A 

Rural 

9' 

11'6' 

103.5 




B 








C 

(With breakfast nook) 

7' 6" 

18' 

117 




D 

(With breakfast nook) 

9'3' 

20' 

192.5 




VBA 

Rural 

7' 6" 

12' 

90 





With workroom. Di¬ 







C 

mensions do not in¬ 
clude workroom 

8'6" 

13' 

110.5 




D 


9' 

11' 

99 




E 


8' 6" 

11' 

93.5 




VII-A 

Rural 

7' 

12' 3" 

85.75 

6' 

7'6" 

45 

VIIBA 

Apartment 

7' 

9' 

63 

7' 

8' 

56 

B 

(with maid) 

7' 

S' 

56 

6' 

7' 

42 

C 


7' 

8' 

56 

6'6" 

8' 

52 

IX-A 

Detached House 

7' 

S' 

56 

4'9" 

S' 

38 

B 

(with maid) 






7' 

12' 

84 

6' 

9' 

54 


















Size of Rooms 


17 


yet changed our habits—even though company never catches us 
at it.) When there are small children, often their play must be 
supervised by the mother as she goes about the preparation of 
meals. Sometimes the kitchen is used as a place where a part of the 
laundry work is done. Also, frequently the city kitchen, as is true 
of the farm kitchen, is the scene of much activity during the 
canning season. 

A comparison of the kitchen duties of the city woman and the 
farm woman makes apparent the fact that the farm activities re¬ 
quire more kitchen space than usually is necessary in the city house 
for the same number of people. Meats, milk, cream, butter, eggs, 
fruits, vegetables, and possibly other products, are to be handled, 
processed, and stored. Not the least item to be considered in con¬ 
nection with the farm kitchen is the fact that usually the home is 
the only heated building on the farm, and during the cold weather 
the kitchen is very often the warmest room in the house; conse¬ 
quently it is the place where members of the family are most 
likely to gather and where workers from the outside come to get 
dry and warm in wet and cold weather. 

At the same time that the kitchen is being planned large enough 
to take care of the demands on it, a serious effort must be made to 
keep the space small enough to allow for an efficient arrangement 
of equipment in the room. In the newer designs of farm homes 
the tendency is to divide certain duties and furnish smaller rooms, 
such as kitchen, laundry room, washroom, and milk room, where 
each type of work may be done. Where space can be thus provided, 
it is, of course, more satisfactory than having all the types of work 
done in one large room. 

The foregoing discussion of the situation brings out clearly the 
fact that no definite size can be stated as the proper one for all 
kitchens. In the light of all factors that must be considered in 
determining the size and arrangement of the kitchen, perhaps the 
best that can be said is this: The space allotted to any kitchen must 
be sufficient to take care of the work that is to be done there at all 
times during the year; but, at the same time, in order to save steps 


18 


The Game of Planning a House 


and labor, the room should be made as small as is compatible with 
the demands made on it. 


DINING ROOM 

The President’s farm home survey showed the 14x14 dining 
room as the most popular, with the 12x14 and the 12x12 second 
and third, respectively. These three are very good sizes. The south¬ 
ern survey gave the leading sizes in the following order: 12x14, 
14x16, 14x14. The most popular areas in the surveys were these: 
For the country as a whole, 190 to 199.9; 250 to 259.9; 160 to 
169.9; for the southern homes, 190 to 199.9; 160 to 169.9; 220 
to 229.9. The area of 250 to 259.9 is, no doubt, too large to use 
efficiently for a dining room in the average farm home. This size 
gets into the lead because of the prevalence of 16x16 rooms, par¬ 
ticularly in the South. 

The predominance of 16x16 rooms (Table 3) might be ex¬ 
plained by the fact that many of the southern farm homes were 
built originally of four 16x16 rooms. Usually these rooms were 
placed in twos on either side of a wide, open hall. There was no 
special study or planning given to them. It was a standard design 
and widely used. I have frequently stopped the construction of 
such a house by asking the question,—why? Why the wide hall? 
Why in the middle of the house? Why square rooms? Why 16 
feet square? That starts some thinking and then a different plan 
develops. Many of these houses have been remodeled, but the 
dining and living rooms evidently did not get in on the change. 
Probably the best sizes for this room are those shown with the 
16x16 left out. 

The ready-cut house people used 82 different sizes in the 170 
plans out of 200 plans which had dining rooms. They used most 
the 10x12 room, with 11x12 the next best size, and then 11x12*4, 
llxl210x10, and 8x10. The range of sizes went from 6x8*4 
to 14x14. The areas most popular were in this order: 120 to 129.9; 
130 to 139.9; 150 to 159.9. 

The architects were a little freer with their space and gave as 


19 


Size of Rooms 

Table No. 3—DINING ROOM SIZES 


Prevailing Sizes as shown by 
Analysis of House Plans 



Area 

Choice 

Area 

Sq. Feet 

Room Dimension Choice 

First Second 

for Areas 

Third 

In 

First 

140-149.9 

11 

X 

13 

lh 


12} 

10 

X 

14 

f— 1 

r) co 

Second 

150-159.9 

12 

X 

13 

11 

X 

14 

11 

X 

14} 

CO 

fc D 
X o 

Third 

130-139.9 

11 

X 

12 

10 

X 

13 




CJ X 

Fourth 

180-189.9 

13 

X 

14 

12 

X 

15} 





Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

11 

X 

13 

11 

X 

12 

12 

X 

13 


First 

120-129.9 

10 

X 

12 

10 

X 

12} 

10 

X 

12} 

READY-CUT 

HOUSES 

Second 

130-139.9 

11 

X 

12 

11 

X 

12} 

11 

X 

12} 

Third 

150-159.9 

11 

X 

14} 

11 

X 

14} 

10}x 144 

Fourth 

140-149.9 

11 

X 

13} 

11 

X 

13} 




Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

10 

X 

12 

11 

X 

12 

11 

X 

12} 

W W 

First 

190-199.9 

14 

X 

14 

12 

X 

16 

13 

X 

15 

9$ 

5 

Second 

250-259.9 

16 

X 

16 

14 

X 

18 

15 

X 

17 

1 0 
g I 
o 

Third 

160-169.9 

12 

X 

14 

10 

X 

16 

13 

X 

13 


Fourth 

140-149.9 

12 

X 

12 

10 

X 

14 




z 2: 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

14 

X 

14 

12 

X 

14 

12 

X 

12 

co 

First 

190-199.9 

14 

X 

14 

12 x 16 




^ w 

Z co 

Second 

160-169.9 

12 

X 

14 

10 

X 

16 




SJ 0 

Third 

220-229.9 

14 

X 

16 

15 

X 

15 

13 

X 

17 

81 

r/^ 

Fourth 

250-259.9 

16 

X 

16 

14 

X 

18 




Uh 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

12 

X 

14 

14 

X 

16 

14 

X 

14 



































20 


The Game of Planning a House 


their first choice for size of dining room 11x13, the next best sizes 
being these: 11x12, 12x13, 13x14, 12x14, and 11x14. They used 
74 different sizes ranging from 5^4x7 to 14x17J4. The most prev¬ 
alent areas were as follows in order: 140 to 149.9; 150 to 159.9; 
130 to 139.9. 

A summary of the results of the analysis of all these plans 
with respect to the dining room is given in Table No. 3, Dining 
Room Sizes. 

The dining room is one of the rooms that seems to be going 
out of the picture as far as home design is concerned. There is a 
marked tendency for this room to be eliminated from houses; a 
breakfast room or nook may or may not be used in its place. When 
the breakfast nook is used, it is built as a part of or adjacent to the 
kitchen. Some homes have a dining room and breakfast nook, in 
which case the latter is used in preference to the kitchen as a place 
to serve meals when the dining room is not used. There are other 
conditions where just the breakfast nook is built, in which case it, 
of course, does the full duty as a place to serve all meals. This 
breakfast nook is just wide enough to take care of the table and 
chairs or benches on either side. The breakfast nook varies in 
width from about 5 feet 6 inches to 8 feet, with the length 
from 4 feet 6 inches to 10 feet, depending on the size of the fam¬ 
ily and how the nook is to be furnished. When the capacity of the 
breakfast room is exceeded by company, the omission of the dining 
room may be offset by the use of small tables, such as card tables, 
placed around in the living room. It is not uncommon to find plans 
of houses drawn up without any dining room. 

LIVING ROOM 

In the farm home plans studied for the entire country, the most 
popular living room size was 16x16, with 14x16 second, and 14x14 
third. In the southern farm homes the same sizes were used in the 
same order. The popularity of the 16x16 room here is no doubt 
explained in the same way as it was with the dining room. The most 
popular areas found in the surveys were these: Nation-wide,— 


21 


Size of Rooms 

Table No. A — LIVING ROOM SIZES 


Prevailing Sizes as shown by 
Analysis of House Plans 


ARCHITECTS’ 

HOUSES 

Area Area 

Choice Sq. Feet 

Room Dimension Choice for Areas 

First Second Third 

First 240-249.9 

13 x 19 13Jx 18 llfx 20J 

Second 260-269.9 

13 x 20 13 x 20± 15 x 24J 

Third 280-289.9 

13Jx 22 14 x 20 13 x 21 

Fourth 230-239.9 

13 x 18 13|x 18 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

13 x 19 13 x 18 13 x 20 

READY-CUT 

HOUSES 

First 140-149.9 

10 X 14 12 X 12 ll|x 12§ 

Second 180-189.9 

12ix 15J llix 16 13Jx 14 

Third 160-169.9 

10 x 16 12 x 14 12ix 13 

Fourth 150-159.9 

llix 13J llix 13i 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

10 x 14 12 x 12 12 x 16 

NATION-WIDE 
FARM HOUSES 

First 250-259.9 

16 x 16 14 x 18 15 x 17 

Second 220-229.9 

14 x 16 15 x 15 13 x 17 

Third 190-199.9 

14 x 14 12 x 16 13 x 15 

Fourth 160-169.9 

12 x 14 11 x 15 10 x 16 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

16 x 16 14 x 16 14 x 14 

SOUTHERN 
FARM HOUSES 

First 250-259.9 

16 x 16 14 x 18 

Second 220-229.9 

14 x 16 15 x 15 13 x 17 

Third 190-199.9 

14 x 14 

Fourth 210-219.9 

14 x 15 12 x 18 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

16 x 16 14 x 16 14 x 14 
































22 


The Game of Planning a House 


250 to 259.9; 220 to 229.9} 190 to 199.9} for the South—250 
to 259.9} 220 to 229.9} 190 to 199.9. 

The most popular size of living room with the ready-cut people 
was 10x14, and then came 12x12, 12x16, 12j4xl5j4, and 
11 }4xl3 %. These houses gave 110 different sizes of living rooms, 
varying from 8x16 to 14*4x1714. The areas which were the most 
popular are as follows: 140 to 149.9} 180 to 189.9} 160 to 169.9. 

The architects seem to prefer the 13x19 sized living room, with 
the following sizes next: 13x18, 13x20, 13x17, 13j4x22, and 
13^4x1 8. In the plans studied there were 75 different sizes ranging 
from 9^4x13 to 18x22j4- The areas most prevalent in order were 
as follows: 240 to 249.9} 260 to 269.9, and 280 to 289.9. 

The living room needs to be as spacious as it is possible to get it 
and keep within the price. There is a very decided tendency to 
make it rectangular, as has been noted with a discussion of its pro¬ 
portions. No doubt that is wise. This is the room that gets a great 
deal of use and more than any other, perhaps, reflects the family 
life. 

The summary of sizes of living rooms found to be used as a 
result of the plans analyzed is given in Table No. 4, Living Room 
Sizes. 


BEDROOM 

In the farm home study for the entire country, the sizes of 
bedrooms that prevailed were 14x14, 16x16, and 14x16, while for 
the South the same three sizes occurred in almost the same order. 
These large-sized bedrooms are probably explained by the fact that 
more than one person slept in each room, and in many cases these 
bedrooms were also used as sitting rooms. The popular areas in the 
nation-wide survey were these: 190 to 199.9} 250 to 259.9} 140 
to 149.9. For the South, the popular areas were the same for the 
first two with the third being 220 to 229.9. 

The ready-cut house people thought the best areas for the bed¬ 
rooms were these: 120 to 129.9} 90 to 99.9} 130 to 139.9. The 
most popular dimensions in these areas were these: 10x12, 9x10, 


23 


Size of Rooms 
Table No. 5— BEDROOM SIZES 


Prevailing Sizes as shoivn by 
Analysis of House Plans 



Area 

Choice 

Area 

Sq. Feet 

Room Dimension Choice 

First Second 

for Areas 

Third 

In 

First 

150-159.9 

12 

X 

13 

11 x 14 

12 X 12£ 

[ — 1 

CJ ^ 

a w 

Second 

130-139.9 

11 

X 

12 

10 x 13 

11 X 12i 

CO 

fc D 
I 0 

Third 

140-149.9 

11 

X 

13 

lljx 13 

12 x 12 

U X 

Pi 

Fourth 

160-169.9 

13 

X 

13 

lljx 14 

12 x 14 


Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

12 

X 

13 

11 x 12 

11 X 13 


First 

120-129.9 

10 

X 

12 

lOJx lli 

10i X 12 

READY-CUT 

HOUSES 

Second 

90- 99.9 

9 

X 

10 

9|x 10i 

9Jx 10 

Third 

130-139.9 

11 

X 

12 

lljx 12 

lljx 12 

Fourth 

70- 79.9 

8 

X 

9 

7Jx 10 


Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

8 

X 

10 

11 x 12 

9 x 10 

Q W 

H co 
gs 3 

First 

190-199.9 

14 

X 

14 

12 x 16 

13 x 15 

Second 

250-259.9 

16 

X 

16 

14 x 18 

15 x 17 

1 0 
Z X 

o 

Third 

140-149.9 

12 

X 

12 

10 x 14 

11 X 13 

rS 

C e* 

< <- 
z 2 

Fourth 

160-169.9 

12 

X 

14 

10 x 16 

11 x 15 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

14 

X 

14 

16 x 16 

14 x 16 

CO 

First 

190-199.9 

14 

X 

14 

12 x 16 

13 x 15 

^ w 

Z co 
erf D 

Second 

250-259.9 

16 

X 

16 

14 x 18 


S o 

X it! 

Third 

220-229.9 

14 

X 

16 

15 x 15 


osi 

CO 

Fourth 

160-169.9 

12 

X 

14 

13 x 14 

10 x 16 

Uh 

Dimension Choice 
Regardless of Area 

16 

X 

16 

14 x 14 

14 x 16 
































24 


The Game of Planning a House 


and 11x12. In the 375 bedrooms analyzed there were 124 different 
sizes which ranged from 6^4x814 to \2%x\2%. 

The architects used a 12x13 room size more than any other, 
with other popular sizes being these: 11x12, 11x13, 11x14, and 
10x13. Of the 257 bedrooms studied there were 110 different 
sizes ranging from 8x10 to 14x15. The areas that were the most 
popular with the architects are as follows: 150 to 159.9; 130 to 
139.9; 140 to 149.9. 

Table No. 5 gives the summary of sizes of bedrooms found 
to be most prevalent in the study made. 

In the five-room house there are usually two bedrooms. It is 
only natural to suppose that, if housing needs are studied care¬ 
fully before construction, in many cases one bedroom will be larger 
than the other. This is particularly true where there are children 
in the family. The bedroom is quite often the place where the 
children play, and the housewife sews and does other duties that 
can well be done in this room. Then, too, especially when the chil¬ 
dren are small, their bed is sometimes in the same room with the 
parents. The main bedroom is usually occupied by two grown 
people, which calls for a larger room. During cold weather, par¬ 
ticularly in the South where the farm houses are not heated in the 
best way, one of the bedrooms usually becomes the place where 
the family spends a good deal of the time. It just naturally seems 
to follow that these two bedrooms could well be made in two dif¬ 
ferent sizes. However, this condition did not prevail in the farm 
home survey. The ready-cut people, though, seemed to recognize 
some such principle in houses, because, when their houses were 
analyzed on the basis of a large and small bedroom, it was found 
that the 8x10 and 11x12 sizes ran neck and neck for first place; 
while for the smaller room the 8x10 size predominated, with 8x9, 
9^4x10^2, and 10x10 poor seconds. So it would seem that this 
question of a different size for these two bedrooms is in need of 
consideration and further study. This same discussion can be ap¬ 
plied to houses having more than two bedrooms. 

Climate will have something to do with size of bedrooms. In 


Size of Rooms 


25 


colder climates, the necessity of economy in heating makes a small 
room desirable, with a care as to the amount of window glass used. 
People in the warmer climates are demanding airiness and cool¬ 
ness } so large amounts of window space and more liberal room 
sizes are needed. 

Something might be said here as to the number of rooms per 
person which it is desirable to have in a house. This is particularly 
fitting at this time when bedrooms are being discussed. Knowles 
gives the following: “. . . One room for parents and infant child 
and enough rooms for other children for proper segregation of 
the sexes.” 5 One minimum standard which has been projected is 
this: “A housing standard of one room per person, exclusive of 
bath, has, therefore, been adopted as the minimum requirement 
consistent with health and decency.” 5 Still another word on the 
number of rooms required is this: “. . . one criterion of the mini¬ 
mum comfort standard for a family of five is one room per person, 
including three-fifths of a bedroom per person . . ,” 7 

BATHROOM 

The farm homes use for their bathroom size 6x8 as the most 
popular, with 6x10 as a close second. With the ready-cut people 
the 6x8 size is the most popular, while they also lean toward 
554x6^2, 5 ^x6J4, 5 l /2x7y 2 , and 5 l / 2 x 7. Then they used a wide 
series of sizes in the 140 plans inspected, using 60 different sizes 
from 3 1 / 2 xiy 2 to 8x9. The architects also find the 6x8 and 5x8 
desirable. They use as well sizes from 5x7 y 2 to 724x8. 

The bathroom is a new room, comparatively speaking, for all 
houses and particularly for farm homes. It naturally follows that 
it usually would be crowded into some left over space. This is 
what has happened, with the result that it was small, efficient, and 
economical in the use of space. The tendency seems to be toward 

a Knowles, Morris. Industrial Housing. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 
1920. 

^Bureau of Applied Economics. Standards of Living. Bulletin No. 7. 

’President’s Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Committee on Farm 
snd Village Housing. Farm and Village Housing, Appendix H. Washington, 1931. 


26 The Game of Planning a House 

larger bathrooms. This is being brought about by the bathroom 
equipment people, who are becoming active in bringing out new 
ideas in bathroom design as well as the development of the equip¬ 
ment that goes into the room. 8 There is no doubt that this strong 
influence will have very decided results. 

The bathroom is an important room in any house, and it has 
remained small since its development; but it should have all the 
space that can be used to good advantage. Why not make it 
larger? 


LIBRARY 

Not much material was found on sizes and shapes of the library. 
A room is built to serve a definite purpose. Conditions vary in dif¬ 
ferent families as to whether they will have a library and, if so, 
just what it will be used for. The uses to which a library may best 
be put vary with the conditions found in different families. In some 
homes the library would be considered as a room that could be 
readily turned into a spare bedroom, where a davenport stays to 
become a bed as occasion demands, or it might be used as a sewing 
room as well as a place to read or study. In other homes, particu¬ 
larly in farm homes, it might be considered, in addition to any 
or all of the above, as an office for the head of the house. Thus, 
this room will vary in size on account of the duties which it is 
called upon to perform. As a general rule, its range of sizes will 
come pretty well within those shown for bedrooms. 

CELLAR 

The size of the cellar is also dependent upon what it is going 
to be used for. In some sections of the country the cellar is put 
under just one room of the house. In such cases it is used mainly 
for a furnace room or some such purpose and called a “.heater 
pit.” In other sections of the country the cellar is placed under the 
entire house and provides for several rooms, which are used for 

8 The Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company. The Bathroom, a New Interior. Result* 
of bathroom design contest, giving fifty designs. Pittsburgh, Pa., 1931. 


Size of Rooms 


27 


various purposes, such as a washroom, laundry, storage room for 
canned fruit and vegetables, or a recreation room for the children, 
as well as a place for a heating unit. Individual needs will defi¬ 
nitely decide how large the cellar should be. 

It does not necessarily follow that every house will have a 
cellar. It has some decided advantages in taking care of certain 
needs, such as are enumerated above. The cellar, therefore, be¬ 
comes more important in some sections of the country than in 
others. For example, in the cold climates it is used far more than 
in the South. The cellar is usually an expensive part of the house, 
and, as a result, there is a marked tendency today to get along 
without it wherever it is possible. The new methods of heating, 
such as the use of gas and central heating plants, have also tended 
to encourage its elimination. 


PORCHES 

Porches are of all kinds,—front, side, back, and sleeping 
porches. They are of a wide variety of sizes and shapes. 

The porch, where it is used for sleeping purposes, is most fre¬ 
quently made about the size of a bedroom. If, however, it is to 
take care of a number of people, it must be larger. Its location is 
important j get it where the summer breeze is to be. 

This brings up the question of breeze and where it is. Each 
locality has a direction from which breezes usually blow. These 
prevailing winds can be depended on to cool the summer heat. It 
is important that their direction be definitely located and the home 
so arranged to take full advantage of them. In Texas the Gulf 
breeze from the south and southeast is our electric fan to cool off 
the heat of the sunshine. Sometimes we get a “norther” out of 
the northwest which also cools us, but as “northers” in the sum¬ 
mer are rarer than the standard Gulf breeze, we build our sleep¬ 
ing porches and bedrooms on the south side. In some sections the 
breezes blow one way in the early morning and the opposite way 
at night. In other words, they follow the sun. Each locality has 


28 


The Game of Planning a House 


its peculiarities along this line. Learn what they are and plan the 
house accordingly. 

The back porch, just off the kitchen, is usually made to fit in a 
most convenient space. This porch is usually small in size, ranging 
from 6 feet square on up to the same size as the kitchen. As there 
seems to be no definite size for it, its dimensions are left to the 
needs of the house owner. 

Front or side porches are also made in a wide variety of sizes 
and shapes. They are built in one or two-story designs. Most of 
them are, of course, one-story. Some of the old colonial houses have 
the two-story type with only one floor $ quite a wonderful porch, 
but expensive. Then there are other houses that have two-story 
porches with two floors, both of which are used for general pur¬ 
poses. In other houses the lower floor of the two-story porches is 
used for social purposes, and the second floor is used for sleeping 
quarters. 

The general impression seems to be that the porch is more sat¬ 
isfactory if it is eight feet wide or more, never less than six feet. 
Its length depends entirely upon the ideas of the builder. Some 
people like long porches and others do not like any porch at all. 
The tendency is to inclose the porch where possible, to at least 
screen it, and in many cases to glass it, in order that it may be used 
at all times of the year. 

The screening of a porch is made necessary wherever there are 
mosquitoes or flies. This is a sanitary measure insisted upon by 
leading medical authorities, to say nothing of the comfort it pro¬ 
vides. The enclosing of the porch is more frequently done in the 
cold climates than in the warm sections, the object being to make 
the porch comfortable during inclement weather. 

In most sections of our country the porch is considered a very 
definite part of the farm home. Surveys showed that at least fifty 
per cent of all farm houses in various sections of the country have 
at least two porches. The urban home owner also likes porches. But 
particularly is the porch considered a part of the southern farm 
home. It is used on practically every farm home in this section. This 


Size of Rooms 


29 


is natural because of the long time that moderate weather makes 
porches usable. These porches on the southern homes have not given 
the best service, because, in the first place, they are poorly shaped, 
too narrow and in many cases too long. To serve best their purpose 
they should take on the size and shape of the rooms in the house 
that serve the same purpose, and then they should be at least 
screened in and provided with heavy curtains. Porches in warm 
climates can well be made to serve as outdoor living rooms and 
dining rooms, as well as sleeping rooms, during the greater part 
of the year. 

In many houses built today in dry climates the porch is left off 
the house entirely, because the owner feels that the cost of con¬ 
struction does not pay for the use to which it is put. To compensate 
in a measure for the loss of the porch a floored terrace is put in the 
place where the porch should be. This offers a place to sit in the 
cool of the evening and to have, in a measure, the advantages of 
the porch. This terrace, of course, would not work so well in a 
climate having much cold or wet weather. 

Whether to have one or more porches on the house is often a 
perplexing problem. There is much to be said in favor of the 
porch. In this day, when we have come to realize that sunshine 
and fresh air are very important items in our health program, the 
porch offers possibilities as outdoor living quarters. In addition, 
however, the porch offers comfort during the summer months. 
This feature is more greatly appreciated, of course, by those liv¬ 
ing in hot climates j but it is also valued in other parts. 

The porch has some decided drawbacks. The first one we would 
naturally think of is that it is costly when viewed from the stand¬ 
point of the amount of time it is used. Then, too, porches are a 
part of the house without which one can get along. The shutting off 
of the sunlight, and in other ways darkening the room to which it 
joins, is another very serious disadvantage of the porch. It is highly 
desirable that every room in the house get direct sunlight some time 
during the day. Therefore, porches should be so located that they 
do not violate this rule. 


30 


The Game of Planning a House 


closets 

Closets, like porches, come in a wide variety of sizes and 
shapes, determined largely by what they are to be used for, and 
the likes and dislikes of the builder. Some people like many closets 
and want them large. Others do not seem to want any, at least 
many old houses contain none. The demand for a number of clos¬ 
ets is becoming more pronounced. Closets for bedrooms are made 
in depth from thirty inches to four feet, the length of them being 
as much as can be conveniently put in. The average is around four 
or five feet. The closet for out-door wraps, which is usually near 
the front of the house, runs about the same size or a little smaller 
than the bedroom closet. The linen closet is not over two feet wide 
and thirty inches deep. The closets for other purposes, such as stor¬ 
ing trunks, brooms, and many other things, are built to meet the 
desires of the individual. There seems to be no standardized size. 
There is a tendency, however, to plan closets larger, roomier and 
deeper; the walk-in type is fast proving it is worth anything extra 
that it may cost. 

The best material on size, location, and equipment of the vari¬ 
ous storage places needed in a house was compiled by the Com¬ 
mittee on Household Management by the section on Storage 
Spaces, of the President’s Conference on Home Building and 
Home Ownership. 9 These figures are given as minimum dimensions 
for a family of two with one child. It is also suggested that modifi¬ 
cations would be necessary for families of different incomes and 
composition. 

Built-in Storage Spaces—Primary Needs 
COAT CLOSETS: 

Location: Near the front entrance. 

Space: 36” wide, 30” deep, height of room. 

Equipment: Hat shelf or individual racks, 72” from the floor, rod 4” under¬ 
neath shelf for hanging garments, low hooks for children’s garments, 
rack or hooks at side of closet for umbrellas, rack or shelf for overshoes. 


n Thc President’s Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership. Mimeographed re¬ 
port of the Committee on Household Management, Appendix F, Storage Spaces, Nov., 1931. 


Size of Rooms 


31 


CLOTHES CLOSETS: 

Location: At least one in each bedroom. Preferably one for each occupant. 

Space: 36" wide, 30" deep, height of ceiling. Larger where possible. 

Equipment: Rod for hangers; extension rods back to front are economical of 
space; shelf for hats, 36" wide, 12" deep; rack for shoes, located either 
at side of closet or on closet door at convenient reaching distance from 
floor; low fixtures in children’s room. 

LINEN CLOSET: 

Location: Near bedrooms and bathrooms, preferably in hall. 

Space: 36" wide, 18" deep, height of ceiling. 

Equipment: Double or single doors opening full width of closet. Adjust¬ 
able shelves depth of closet, 8 inches apart, top shelf 16 inches from 
ceiling. 

SPACE FOR TABLE LEAVES (if not stored in table): 

Location: Near dining room. In larger closet or separate closet built for this 
purpose. 

Space: 8" wide, 15" deep, 60" high, preferably vertical, may be horizontal 
for 4 to 6 leaves. 

CLOSET OR CABINET FOR CHILDREN’S TOYS: 

Location: Play room, living room, den or bedroom, depending upon plan 
of house and room most used by children for play. Might be underneath 
bookshelves. 

Space: 10" to 15" wide, 18" high, and 30" to 48" long, or closet: 30" to 
48" long, 10" to 15" deep, at least 48" high. 

Equipment: Adjustable shelves, preferably open. Floor space to accommodate 
kiddie-car and doll carriage, and portable boxes for miscellaneous pos¬ 
sessions. 

CLEANING CLOSET FOR SECOND FLOOR: 

Location: Preferably in hall. 

Space: 20" wide, 10" deep, 84" high. 

Equipment: Two shelves with 8" clearance for both, 8" deep, width of 
closet. Cleat for hooks below shelves along sides and back, additional 
cleats for hooks 48 inches from floor. 

MEDICINE CABINET (Separate from cabinet for toilet supplies): 

Location: Bathroom (or master’s bedroom). In furred out wall. 

Space: 16" wide, 4" deep, 24" high. 

Equipment: Locked and light-proof door, adjustable shelves 10", 7" and 7" 
apart. 


32 


The Game of Planning a House 


BATHROOM CABINET: 

Location: Over bowl In bathroom. Preferably in furred out wall. 

Space: 16" wide, 4" deep, 20" high. 

Equipment: Mirror door, adjustable shelves, 8", 5" and 5" apart. Shelf 
below with clearance of 6 inches between door and shelf. 

LAUNDRY CHUTE (When house is more than single story): 

Location: Near bedrooms and bathroom, preferably in hall. 

Sface: 12" wide and 6" deep. 

Equipment: Metal lined, openings on each floor, discharging in laundry or 
closet near where laundry is done or assembled, with spring door at 
bottom to prevent spread of fire. 

STORAGE CLOSET (One or more): 

Location: Wherever most convenient. 

Space: 48"x72" floor space, large enough for unused baby carriage, two 
trunks, dress form, etc. 

Equipment: Cupboards or open shelving for storage of boxes, shelves 15" 
deep, 15" apart, at least two if cupboards are not provided. 


Built-in Storage Spaces—Desirable Additions 

COAT CLOSET: 

Location: Near back entrance. (More desirable and essential in some homes 
than front hall closet.) 

Space: 36" wide, 30" deep. 

BATHROOM STORAGE CLOSET: 

Location: Any available space opening into bathroom. 

Space: From small closet of 16 cubic feet filling otherwise unused space to 
a full length storage closet approximately 30" wide, 12" deep, height 
of ceiling. 

Equipment: Lowest shelf 12" from base, next 10" clearance. Remaining 
shelves 8" clearance for storage of towels, soap and toilet paper. 

VENTILATED CLOSET IN BATHROOM: 

Location: An outside wall, if possible, probably under window. Unless 
steam or hot water heat is used, in which case the radiator should have 
this location. This closet may be combined with bathroom storage closet 
if it is ventilated. 

Space: 24" wide, 4" deep, 24" high. 


Size of Rooms 


33 


Equipment: Cleats and hooks for hanging toilet brush, bath tub brush, hot 
water and ice bags, cleaning cloths and floor mop with collapsible 
handle. Use of shutter type door may be one means of providing ven¬ 
tilation. 

SECOND STORAGE CLOSET: 

Location: Any available space. 

Equipment: At least one-half for portable boxes, possibly shallow drawers, 
cleats for hooks, rod for hanging out-of-season garments, etc. This closet 
may be reserved for sewing equipment, supplies and materials, still in 
use. Space might here be allotted to storage of keepsakes and photo¬ 
graphs in portable, labeled boxes or in drawers labeled with list of 
contents. 

STORAGE CLOSETS FOR OUTDOOR SUPPLIES: (More than one is de¬ 
sirable so that one can be reserved for out-of-doors garden tools, golf clubs, 

guns, fishing equipment, baseball bats, children’s wagons, window screens, 

and similar articles.) 

Location: Basement, garage or back porch closet for out-of-doors equipment. 
Basement, attic, under eaves, or other suitable space for trunks, dress 
forms, unused baby carriage, etc. 

Space: Large enough for orderly arrangement of above articles. 

Equipment: Hooks, cleats, shelves, as may be appropriate for storage of nec¬ 
essary articles so that each has its place. 

Either Built-in or Movable Furniture for Storage 10 
Primary Needs 

BOOK CASES (Should be part of design if built-in): 

Location: In the small house, in the living room, where such rooms are pro¬ 
vided, in library or den. Possibly in bedrooms if heated. 

Space: 10-16 feet, linear shelf space in most modest homes. 

Equipment: Shelves l" to 10” front to back. Adjustable to provide 8 to 
12” clearance between shelves. 

DINING ROOM CLOSET, SIDEBOARD OR MOVABLE 
CHINA CLOSET: 

(The materials stored in the dining room are the less used materials. Everyday china and 
silver and linen if used in the breakfast nook or kitchen are stored in the kitchen or near the 
dining nook. Dishes such as plates and large vegetable dishes and platters which must be 
warmed before using arc best stored in the kitchen.) 

10 Movable furniture can be easily changed both as to location and type and is usually 
much less expensive than built-in furniture. 


34 


The Game of Planning a House 


Location: In dining room, preferably flush with walls. Openings from both 
kitchen and dining room are convenient. 

Space: To accommodate shelving and drawer space given below. 

Equipment: Minimum, 10 linear feet of shelving 10” wide (or better, 3 
linear feet, shelving 10” wide, 6 linear feet of shelving 7” wide.) 
Drawer for silver, 18” wide, 10” from front to back, and 3" deep 
with tray partitioned for teaspoons, tablespoons, knives, forks and carv¬ 
ing set. A third drawer should be provided for larger homes with the 
same or larger over-all dimensions except that the depth should not be 
increased. Two drawers for linen and silence cloths, 36" wide, 18” 
front to back and 6" to 8” deep. Two drawers or trays for linen, 
18”xl8"x6” to 8” deep. Drawers with opening into both kitchen 
and dining room are convenient. 

Either Built-in or Movable Furniture for Storage— 
Desirable Additions 

BLANKET AND COMFORTER CLOSET, CHEST, OR DRESSER: (If 

built-in) 

Location: In hall or larger storage closet. 

Space: 36” wide, 15" to 18” deep, height of ceiling. (The linen closet 
might be enlarged to provide for a part of the space if this closet is 
not provided.) 

Equipment: Double doors opening full width of closet. Adjustable height 
shelves, preferably tray type. 

CLOSET FOR SEWING EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES, OR DRESSER 
PROVIDED FOR THIS PURPOSE: 

Location: In room or opening into room where sewing is done. 

Space: A greater or less amount of drawer space, i.e., 3 drawers 36" long, 
18" front to back, 8" deep or a closet with floor space for machine, 
ironing board for pressing, dress form and sewing table. Probably mini¬ 
mum floor space of 48" x 48". should be provided for a closet. 

Equipment: Cupboards with shallow drawers or open shelves. 

FLOWER CLOSET (Cupboard or portion of cupboard for vases and other 

flower containers) : 

Location: Near table that can be used for flower arrangement. Near water 
supply. 

Space: Shelf space 4 square feet, 14” clearance. 

MUSIC CLOSET OR CABINET: 

Location: Near piano, Victrola, or other musical instruments. 

Space: Adequate so each piece may be readily located, ll” x 14” and l” to 
2" deep for sheet music; 12" x 12" and 10” x 10" for Victrola records, 
allowing ]/%” thickness for each record. 


Size of Rooms 


35 


Equipment: For Victrola records, a cabinet with horizontal compartments or 
indexed books. Sheet music is best stored on racks or trays, arranged 
one to two inches apart with titles alphabetically arranged, or sheet 
music may be bound and indexed and kept on shelves in living or 
music-room or in closet or piano bench near music center. 

HALLS 

The hall, if it extends to the front door, has several missions 
to perform, which must be kept in mind in selecting its size. The 
visitor to the home gets his first impression from the hall. If one 
is determined, to give the visitor an idea of spaciousness and com¬ 
fort, then he must be prepared to sacrifice space to the hall for 
that purpose. The old southern homes were a good example of 
the desire to do this sort of thing, with the result that they had 
very wide halls, and it was not uncommon to find them from 
eight to twelve feet wide. 

The wide halls of these colonial mansions were copied by the 
small homes, particularly the farm homes throughout the South; 
but they could not afford to waste this space altogether,’ so they 
left the halls open at one or both ends and used them as a place 
to sit during the heat of the day, in order to get shade and any 
breeze that might rush through this long opening. 

The front hall has another advantage in that it gives privacy 
in the home. Where the front door opens directly into the living 
room, then anyone coming in is ushered immediately into th : s 
room. Some people like this type of house; others do not. This 
front hall with its privacy allows the placing of the living room 
at the rear of the house to overlook the gardens and to take advan¬ 
tage of the best possible exposure for this room. There is a marked 
tendency today to put the living room as mentioned. Another im¬ 
portant point to bear in mind is that every house is sometime or 
another for sale; therefore, if a hall will assist in making the house 
more salable, it should be considered. 

The principal need for a hall is to provide free circulation be¬ 
tween rooms, not only of persons, but of air as well. The average 
hall in the small house is usually four or five feet wide, sometimes 


36 


The Game of Planning a House 


getting as narrow as three feet. However, the hall may be any size 
from those just mentioned on up to the sizes used by the old 
colonial homes. Very wide halls are wasteful of space, and they 
are hard to heat in cold weather. Care should be exercised not to 
get the hall too small to allow for the easy moving of furniture 
from room to room. The length of the hall, of course, varies with 
the arrangement of rooms. 


GARAGE 

There is a very marked tendency these days, particularly in 
city home construction, to build the garage as part of the residence. 
Where this is done, the size of the garage varies with the kind and 
number of automobiles to be housed. The garage should be large 
enough to allow a little extra room so that it will not be too tight 
a fit to drive the car or cars in. It is an excellent idea to build the 
garage with sufficient room to have a small work bench at one side 
or the end. The country home builder does not, as a rule, have the 
garage a part of the dwelling, but makes it a separate structure. 
This is done because he often houses in it other things besides his 
automobile. However, there are decided advantages to making 
the garage a part of the house in that it is convenient in cold and 
bad weather. Therefore, the desirability of attaching the garage to 
the house brings in climatic conditions as well as economy of lot 
space. The rural dweller may follow the urban folk in this idea 
as soon as he becomes acquainted with its possibilities. 

It will be seen from this discussion that there seems to be no 
available standardization of sizes and shapes of various rooms. 
However, the material that has been given on the sizes and shapes 
of rooms should be helpful to the individual who is contemplating 
the building of a house. But he should take these figures as only 
indicative and as a starting point from which to assemble a plan. 
To get the right sizes and shapes of rooms requires considerable 
time, thought, and study. It is of utmost importance that the sizes 
of rooms to be used in the proposed house be carefully studied out 
before going any further with the planning of the home. 


Chapter III 


STANDARD SIZES OF ROOMS 

The previous discussion of sizes of rooms points out very 
clearly that there is not any standard size of rooms which one con¬ 
templating the planning of a house can pick up and go ahead with 
without giving considerable thought to just what size to use. Per¬ 
haps it is best that it be just this way. This makes the planner study 
very carefully the matter of sizes of rooms and prevents him from 
carelessly accepting sizes of rooms without checking his needs 
against them. This fact prevents the construction of a room of a 
size that would not fit in best for his needs. 

There always will be a large number of homes that will be 
planned and built without the final owner’s being in on the original 
planning. There are a great many people who do not care to be 
bothered with working out a plan for a home. They prefer to have 
it already built and are willing to pay the price, as well as to take 
a certain number of inconveniences, in order not to have the trouble 
of thinking out a house plan. For the solution of such problems it 
occurs to me that it would be a very fine thing if we had some 
standard sizes of rooms. As no one set of sizes of rooms would 
meet the entire situation, I believe that perhaps at least four dif¬ 
ferent standard sizes should be set up. These four different sizes 
will vary from the smallest to the largest, and their use, of course, 
will depend upon the needs of the occupant, as well as the finances 
available for the construction of the house. The four sizes which 
appear to be desirable ones are as follows: Practical minimum; 
most efficient; comfortable , and spacious. 

The practical minimum size would be the smallest size room 
satisfactory for this purpose. The thought behind the use of the 


38 


The Game of Planning a House 


name practical minimum is that it would be better than using mini¬ 
mum size , because such a name would be liable to bring about a 
contest to see how small a room could be built and yet used for the 
purpose. It is probable that this size would be used only where the 
strictest economy is needed and thus fill a demand for the smallest 
size of a room which would give satisfaction for the purpose. 

The most efficient size would be of sufficient dimensions to give 
a room in which the space would be used with the greatest effi¬ 
ciency. There is no doubt that this room would be larger than the 
practical minimum size. It would fit the needs of a person who 
wanted to get the most possible for his money. 

The comfortable size would be a room of sufficient size to give 
a comfortable room. In this room size it is possible that there will 
be some waste space as far as efficiency goes. The main idea, how¬ 
ever, behind this room size should be that it would be large enough 
to be comfortable for the purpose for which it was to be used. 

The spacious size would be giving the room dimensions large 
enough to make it have an abundance of space. It would not be so 
large as to be objectionable, yet it would be of sufficient size to 
border on luxury of size. 

It may be that these terms are not very definite, but at least 
they bring out the idea of setting up some standards in size which 
could be used for various needs. I have in mind the need of defi¬ 
nite sizes of rooms which would serve when, for example, a client 
comes to an architect and wants plans for a five-room house and 
is willing to spend, say, $20,000. There is no doubt that this house 
should have the spacious sized rooms. On the other hand, suppose 
another person comes to a lumber dealer and wants a house with 
the same number of rooms, but has only $2,000 to spend. In this 
case, the practical minimum size rooms, or the most efficient size 
to be had, would be the ones to be used. 

With these fixed sizes available, they would serve as a starting 
point for the architect, lumberman, or client. A start must be made 
somewhere. The final house might not contain rooms of these sizes 
absolutely, but they would serve to help the planner get started. 


Standard Sizes of Rooms 


39 


It would be desirable in the use of these standard sizes to caution 
the prospective builder to check them against his own needs and 
be sure they were going to lit nicely into his scheme of things. 

There is no doubt that this phase of the subject will need fur¬ 
ther study and more attention if it meets with general approval, 
and there does seem to be a need for it. There is a possibility that 
some of the designers of houses in various organizations have this 
material in hand. If this is so, it has not come to my attention. 


40 


The Game of Planning a House 



SQUARE RECTANGULAR NOTCHED 




DOUBLE NOTCHED 
(Side) 


DOUBLE NOTCHED 
(End) 


ELL 


YOO 


AITCH 


TEE 



Fig. 1 . HOUSE SHAPES 

































































Chapter IV 


ARRANGEMENT OF ROOMS 

For a good many years, 1 have felt that there must be a cer¬ 
tain definite number of shapes into which could be fitted the many 
combinations in which the rooms of a house can be put together. 
In other words, it seemed there should be a few, relatively few, 
shapes that the outlines of houses made on the ground. An analysis 
of over thirteen hundred plans of one-, one-and-one-half, and two 
story houses revealed that this was true. 

In this study of the shapes of houses the porches are not taken 
into consideration. Porches can be put on a house almost anywhere, 
and we have a habit of doing that sort of thing. Therefore, in a 
study of the arrangement of rooms the porch, for the present, is 
not given any consideration. If one wants to identify the shape of 
any house plan according to this study, he can do so by ignoring 
the porches. 

In this analysis made of these small houses there was brought 
to light the fact that practically all of them could be classified 
under eleven different shapes. Of course, there were a few shapes 
that were odd or different from these, but that is to be expected. 
A percentage of somewhere between 90 and 100 of these plans fell 
into these eleven shapes. The shapes are given in Figure 1. These, 
of course, refer particularly to the small house, but a casual study 
of other size houses brings to light the fact that many of these 
shapes are found in them also. It may be as this type of work goes 
on and new designs appear, with them will come new shapes. I am 
not so sure about that, but I do think that in this list we have most 
of the present shapes. 

Let us now take up these various shapes in the order in which 
they are shown. 


41 


42 


Tiie Game of Planning a House 


The square shape is, as most of us know, the most economical 
shape to build, because it has the least wall space for the amount 
of floor space inclosed. It is popular in small, single-story houses 
and in some two-story houses, but it is not popular in the five-room 
houses. In fact, it is very hard to arrange in this size. Figures 2 
and 3 show a two- and one-story house of this type. 


43 


Arrangement of Rooms 





FIRST FLOOR 


SECOND FLOOR 


Fig. 2. SQUARE SHAPED HOUSE 
A "Two-story, Six-room House with Cape Cod Colonial Lin 


(Courtesy o) The Architects } Small House Service I'ureau , In 


i 























































































































44 


The Game of Planning a House 




Fig. 3. SQUARE SHAPED HOUSE 
A One-story, Five-room House with Italian Lines 

(Courtesy of The Architects' Small House Service Bureau, Inc.) 





















































































Arrangement oe Rooms 


45 


The rectangular shape is popular. It is usually an easy house 
plan to arrange. The ready-cut house people, the architects, and 
the nation-wide farm home survey showed it to be the most pop¬ 
ular shape. It is the second most popular shape for the southern 
farm homes, and I believe it will almost rank that way with the 
city houses as well. Figures 4 and 5 show two houses of this type. 


16 


I he Game of Planning a House 




Fig. 4. RECTANGULAR SHAPED HOUSE 
A One-story, Four-room House with Southern Colonial Lines 

(Courtesy of The Architects’’ Small House Service Bureau, Inc.) 



























































































































Arrangement of Rooms 


47 




Fig. 5. RECTANGULAR SHAPED HOUSE 


A Two-story, Five-room House with Colonial Lines 

(Courtesy of The Architects ’ Small House Service Bureau, hie.) 
































































































































































































48 


The Game of Planning a House 


The notched shape is by far the most popular shape that is 
found in five-room houses. The southern farm home survey 
showed this very clearly for this section, it being twice as popular 
as its nearest competitor, which was the rectangular house. This 
also seems to be a very popular house in cities, as one can easily 
check. It is interesting to consider this when passing through a city 
or village. The ready-cut house people do not seem to like this 
shape or any other except the rectangular. The architects’ plan 
books show many plans for the notched house. It is usually a good 
second to the rectangular. The notched shaped house is one of the 
easiest to plan, and persons using the method of planning given in 
this book find this shape the least difficult of all for which to work 
out solutions. The notch part of the house is usually occupied with 
a porch; however there are many ways of treating this notched 
house from an architectural standpoint. Figures 6, 7 and 8 give 
plans and elevations of three very good houses of this type. 





Fig. 6. NOTCHED SH APED HOUSE 


A One-story, Four-room House with a Modern Adaptation of 

Colonial Lines 

(From Bull. 23, Kansas State Agricultural College Engin. Exp. S/a.) 




































































23-I 


50 


The Game of Planning a House 




FIRST FLOOR SFXOND FLOOR 

Fie;. 7. NOTCHED SHAPED HOUSE 
A Two-story, Six-room House with Italian Lines 

(Courtesy of The Architects' Small House Sendee Bureau , Inc.) 


















































































































Arrangement of Rooms 


51 



TCjS.' 



FIRST FLOOR 


SECOND FLOOR 


Fig. 8. NOTCHED SHAPED HOUSE 

A Two-storv, Six-room House with a Modern Adaptation of 

Spanish Lines 

(Courtesy of The Common Brick Manufacturers' Association of America) 


































52 


The Game of Planning a House 


The double notched (side) shape has two notches cut out of 
the side of the house. This is a popular shape in the colonial East. 
It is hardly shown at all in the ready-cut house plan books. This 
type of house, however, is quite popular with architects, particu¬ 
larly those specializing in colonial architecture, as will be noted in 
Figures 9 and 10, which are examples of this shape. 


Arrangement of Rooms 


53 




FIRS'!' FLOOR SECOND FLOOR 


Fig. 9. DOUBLE NOTCHED (SIDE) SHAPED HOUSE 
A Two-story, Six-room House with Dutch Colonial Lines 


(Courtesy of The Architects* Small House Service Httreau, Inc.) 




































































































































































54 


The Game of Planning a Hoi TSE 




FIRST FLOOR 


SECOND FLOOR 


Fig. 10. DOUBLE NOTCHED (SIDE) 


SHAPED HOUSE 


A Two-story, Ten-room House with English Lines 


(From Bull. 23, Kansas State Agricultural College Eng'tn. Exp. Sta.) 









































Arrangement of Rooms 


55 


The double notched (end) type is a house with two notches 
taken off the end. This is not a very popular type, but it is found 
in most of the plan books. Figures 11 and 12 give examples of 
this shape in both single- and two-story five-room houses. 


56 


The Game oe Planning a House 




Fig. 11. DOUBLE NOTCHED (END) SHAPED HOUSE 

A One-story, Five-room House with Spanish Lines 

(Courtesy oj The Common Brick Manufacturers' Association of America) 

















































Arrangement of Rooms 


57 





SECOND FLOOR 


Fig. 12. DOUBLE NOTCHED (END) SHAPED HOUSE 

A Two-story, Five-room House with Italian Lines' 

(The lloor plan is reversed in the elevation shown) 

(Courtesy o t The Architects' Small Home Serz'icc /.‘it/c.iu, In. A 


































































































58 


The Game of Planning a House 


The ell type is a very popular one, particularly in New Eng¬ 
land and the South. In the nation-wide farm home survey it was 
third in popularity, and not a bad third either. Sometimes one of 
the projections is quite a bit longer than the other. While this shape 
is often left out altogether in many of the plan books, it is found 
in many others of them and at times is quite prevalent. Figures 13, 
14, and 15 are typical plans for this shape. 


Arrangement of Rooms 


59 




|0 

.* 

'*0 


Fig. 13. ELL SHAPED HOUSE 
A Single-story, Four-room House with Cape Cod Colonial Line? 

(Courtesy of The Architects' Small House Service Bureau, Inc.) 

























































































Si;CONI) FLOOR 


Fk;. 14. ELL SHAPED HOUSE 
A Two-story, Eight-room House with English Lines 

(From Hull. 23, Kansas State Agricultural ('.allege F. right. E.\ ft. S/a.) 























































Arrangement of Rooms 


61 







FIRST FLOOR 


SECOND FLOOR 


Fig. 1 5 . ELL SHAPED HOUSE 
A Two-story, Six-room House with Spanish Lines 
(Courtesy of The Architects' Small House Service Bureau, Inc.) 
























































































62 


The Game of Planning a House 


The yoo type is adapted well to Spanish architecture, because 
it offers an ideal place for the patio. This shape, however, can be 
used for other architectural styles and has many interesting possi¬ 
bilities. It is a type that is not very often found in plan books, 
except as they deal especially with Mexican or Spanish architecture. 
Figures 16 and 17 are plans that show well how this shape works 
up into a house of two different architectural styles. 


Arrangement of Rooms 


63 




Fig. 16. YOO SHAPED HOUSE 


A Single-story, Five-room House with Spanish Lines 
(Courtesy of The Architects' Small House Service Bureau, Inc.) 





















































64 


The Game of Planning a House 




Fir.. 17. YOO SHAPED HOUSE 


A Single-storv, Five-room House with a Modern Adaptation 

of English Lines 

( Courtesy o f The American Face Trick Association) 

















































Arrangement of Rooms 


65 


The aitch type has the advantages of the yoo type in that it also 
has a patio space. This shape has an added advantage, too, from 
the standpoint of offering excellent ventilation on all sides. A 
house of this shape also lends itself well to the progressive or unit 
type of construction. More of this method of planning will be 
given later, as well as its relation to this shape. It is, however, 
expensive to construct, because it has much wall space for the 
amount of space inclosed. Houses of this shape are shown in two 
architectural styles in Figures 18 and 19. 


66 


The Game of P T ann ing a House 



4 a ^ 




^o'SltoJlgr 


btO • 

Ife-O * ll-o 


5tO* BA- 

II-O KIOO 




.' 3 U*i 


MU 


of D 


C’A 


C-X 


KlfcMW 


M 


DINIJIG 


APiUui 


ILW 


LIVING 




D<UAILU/T 
* P.COA ■ 


OOlll 


POUCH 




Fic. 18. AITCH SHAPED HOUSE 


A One-story, Seven-room House with French Rural Lines 

( Courtesy of l'lie Common thick Manufacturers' Association of America) 












































Arrangement of Rooms 


67 




A Single-story, Five-room House with Colonial Lines 

(Courtesy of The Architects y Small House Service Bureau, Inc.) 


3-OTh-2 9*2- 

































68 


The Game oe Planning a House 


The tee type is quite frequently found throughout the country. 
It also offers good possibilities from the ventilation standpoint. 
Opportunity to put porches in the sides is an added inducement to 
some to use this type. Houses of this shape are shown in two archi¬ 
tectural styles in Figures 20 and 21. 


Arrangement of Rooms 


69 




FIRST FLOOR SECOND FLOOR 

Fig. 20. TEE SHAPED HOUSE 


A Two-story, Seven-room House with English Lines 
(F tom Bull. 23, Kansas State Agricultural College Engin. Exp. Sta.) 
















































70 


The Came of Planning a House 







SECOND FI.OOR 


Fig. 21. TEE SHAPED HOUSE 
A Two-story, Seven-room House with Spanish Lines 

(Courtesy of The Common Brick Manufacturers' Association of America) 


































Arrangement of Rooms 


71 


The zee shape is fairly popular throughout the country. It is 
not only popular in being built, but it is popular in some of the 
plan books. It is a type, however, that is little known, or recognized 
as being of that type. It works well in one-story houses as it does 
in various architectural styles. Figures 22 and 23 show this shape 
in one-story houses. 


72 


File Game of Planning a I-Ioi JSE 




Fic. 22. ZEE SHAPED HOUSE 

A One-story, Five-room House with a Free Adaptation of 
Cape Cod Cottage Colonial Lines 

(brow hull. 23, Kansas State Agricultural College Enpin, Exp. Rta.) 













































Arrangement of Rooms 


73 



Fig. 23. ZEE SHAPED HOUSE 
A Single-story, Five-room House with Spanish (Mexican) Lines 

(Courtesy of The Common Brick Manufacturers' Association of America) 























74 


The Game of Planning a House 


The cross type house is one in the shape of a Greek cross. This 
seems to be little recognized, although it is occasionally found in 
the plan books, but is quite frequently constructed. It has the ad¬ 
vantage of being easy to ventilate. Examples of this shape are 
shown in Figures 24 and 25. 


Arrangement of Rooms 75 



FIRST FLOOR SECOND FLOOR 

Fig. 24. CROSS SHAPED HOUSE 

A Two-story, Seven-room House with a Free Adaptation 
of English Lines 

(Courtesy of the American Face Brick Association) 






































































76 


The Game of Planning a House 



Fig. 25. CROSS SHAPED HOUSE 
A Single-story, Five-room House with Spanish Lines 

(Courtesy of The Architects' Small House Service Bureau, Inc.) 













































































































Arrangement of Rooms 


77 


Each shape has its possibilities from the standpoint of the archi¬ 
tecture, location, arrangement, ventilation, lighting, construction, 
and cost. Some shapes appeal to one and not to the other. A cer¬ 
tain shape may not be at all interesting to one at the start, but upon 
further study it may develop into a plan that becomes very 
attractive. 

Someone has suggested that in planning houses we are always 
trying to have each room in the house a corner room. This is no 
doubt true. Perhaps that explains why we have so many shapes for 
the small house. We must have more than four corners that the 
square and rectangular shapes give us, if we have a house of more 
than four rooms; so we develop other shapes to give us more 
corners for additional corner rooms. 

House shapes run in bunches. Frequently communities are 
found where one shape of house prevails, while a little farther 
down the road another shape predominates. 

This, then, is the full line of small house shapes. It is the 
thing that makes home planning doubly interesting. 

There are some other shapes of houses, but usually they are a 
combination of two of these shapes, or maybe just a freak shape 
that is not used very much. I do not claim that these are all the 
shapes,—further study may bring others to light, but of all the 
plans studied up to the present time, practically all of them fall 
into these shapes. 

Most plan books do not carry very many different shapes for 
the small house. In some cases not over five of these different 
shapes were shown, while others had only three and four. So, in 
looking over the usual run of plan books for the selection of a 
house plan, one does not get the opportunity to have the widest 
selection of possibilities there are for the house that is being 
considered. 


Chapter V 


SIZE OF HOUSES 

It might be well to stop here long enough to have a little to 
say about the sizes of houses that predominate. There are several 
ways to look at house sizes: number of stories, number of rooms, 
and the size that the rooms are made. 

Let us consider first the question of the number of stories. For 
village houses in the various parts of the country, the following 
table gives a very good idea of the existing situation. 

TABLE NO. 6—PERCENTAGE OF VILLAGE HOUSES HAVING DIFFERENT 

STORIES; BY PRINCIPAL HOUSING SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES* 

PER CENT OF HOUSES HAVING 




One and 


More 


One 

One-half 

Two 

than Two 

SECTION 

Story 

Stories 

Stories 

Storie* 

fNew England-New York_ 

... - 4.7 

23.8 

66.7 

4.8 

Appalachian-Ozark Highlands _ 

65.5 

15.0 

19.5 

— 

Tobacco-Bluegrass _ 

...... 2 5.4 

1 1.8 

62.8 

— 

Cotton Belt _ ___ .... 

83.3 

1.3 

14.1 

1.3 

Corn Belt _..._ 

1.6 

40.0 

58.4 

_ 

Northern Dairy _ _ _ 

16.4 

21.4 

56.4 

6.8 

Great Plains _ 

56.8 

27.3 

15.9 


Great Basin _ 

62.3 

1 3.0 

23.2 

1.5 

fPacific Northwest _ 

... 36.3 

18.2 

45.5 

— 


'Committee on Farm and Village Housing, President’s Conference on Home Building and 
Home Ownership, 1931. 

fSmall number of homes examined makes the figures not conclusive. 


This table, while for village conditions, should give some indi¬ 
cation of what exists in the city; however, the number of stories 
used for city small houses is not clear, as no data seem to be avail¬ 
able on the subject. The plan books of the architects and ready-cut 
people have two-story plans in the majority for any house above 

73 











Size of Houses 


79 


the five-room, while for that size and below they use more of the 
one-story. 

The farm house does not vary much from the village house, if 
the tables herewith given are taken as a guide. Table No. 7 gives 
the farm home situation, and about the only place it varies much 
from Table No. 6 is in the Great Basin and Pacific Northwest 
where the number of houses surveyed was not sufficient to be sure 
of getting a true picture. 


TABLE NO. 7—NUMBER OF STORIES IN FARM HOUSES; BY PRINCIPAL 
FARM HOUSING SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES* 



PER 

CENT OF 

HOUSES 

HAVING 



One and 


More 


One 

One-half 

Two 

than Two 

SECTION 

Story 

Stories 

Stories 

Stories 

New England-New York _ _ 

- 8.0 

36.9 

49.2 

3.9 

Centra] East _ _ 

- 3.5 

6.3 

90.2 

_ 

Appalachian-Ozark Highlands_ 

45.3 

16.4 

35.9 

2.2 

Tobacco-Bluegrass _ 

- 22.0 

13.8 

60.7 

3.5 

Cotton Belt _ _ - 

81.1 

5.9 

12.8 

.2 

Corn Belt __ 

7.6 

38.4 

49.1 

4.9 

Northern Dairy _ 

- 4.7 

18.9 

68.5 

7.9 

Great Plains _ 

- 77.6 

13.3 

8.5 

.6 

fGreat Basin . . _ —- 

- 60.3 

5.2 

34.5 

— 

fPacific Northwest _ 

14.7 

8.8 

76.5 

— 

•Committee on Farm and Village Housing, 

President’s 

Conference 

on Home 

Building and 


Home Ownership, 1931. 

fSmall number of homes examined makes the figures not conclusive. 


The table shows in a very definite way that in the South the one- 
story farm houses predominate, while in the North the two-story 
houses are the more popular. As to why,—I shall let someone else 
tell you. 

The same fact is shown much more clearly in the map, Figure 
26, which was drawn up as a result of figures from this survey and 
some additional information 1 gathered. This map is made to show 
where the one-story and more-than-one-story farm homes are in 
the majority. 

The next method of considering size of houses is with refer¬ 
ence to number of rooms. The nation-wide survey of farm houses 












80 


The Game of Planning a House 



Fig. 26, DISTRIBUTION OF FARM HOUSES IN THE UNITED 
STATES ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF STORIES 











Size of Houses 


81 


showed different sections using different sizes of houses. The South, 
Southwest, and West favor four, five, and six-room houses, while 
the Central West and East show a preference for six, seven, and 
eight-room houses. 

The ready-cut people and the architects, I take it, would keep 
in touch with the demand, and their books of plans would reflect 
the calls they received. They show more four and five-room, single¬ 
story and six-room, two-story houses than any other kinds. 

It would seem from the study that the five-room, single-story 
house is the most popular, with the six-room, two-story second in 
demand. A more thorough and careful study might change this a 
little, but at least it can be said that the five-room, single-story 
house and the six-room, two-story houses are the most popular 
small houses in America today. 


Chapter VI 


THE GAME STARTS 

We are now ready to play the game! 

We have accumulated the facts necessary for starting the game. 
These facts include the dimensions for all the rooms and the num¬ 
ber of rooms, as well as the different shapes in which these rooms 
can be put together. 

The first step in the game, then, is to see if these rooms can be 
put together in these various shapes, and, if so, in how many dif¬ 
ferent ways. It is a cross between checkers, chess, and cross-word 
puzzles. If you like them you may like this. If you do not like 
any of them, you may like this. So here we go! 

In playing this game, the first move is to get the materials with 
which to play it. About the only thing that is needed is some card¬ 
board, fairly stiff. It can be either white or colored. Some people 
like to use several different colors of cardboard, so they can have 
a different color for each room. This is not necessary, although it 
works out very nicely. One color for all will work very well. 

If purchased at the stationer’s or print shop, two or three pieces 
8*4 by 11 inches (business letterhead size) will be sufficient. An 
old shoe box, writing paper box, shirt box, hat box, or anything of 
that kind will also do. 

The next thing, with the cardboard at hand, is to lay off on 
the cardboaid the various rooms to size and to a definite scale. “To 
a scale” means that a certain part of an inch represents a foot. That 
is, if a room is 10 feet, and if the scale used is 34-inch equals a 
foot, then the cardboard block for that room would be cut out so it 
would be 10 times J4 inch, or 2*4 inches, on two sides and 12 
times 34 inch, or 3 inches, on the other two sides. Thus the card¬ 
board block is a small size reproduction of the regular size room. 

82 


The Game Starts 


83 


It has been my experience that cardboards cut out to ^4 inch 
equalling one foot are very satisfactory for playing this game. 
Special scales or rules which can be used for this purpose can be 
purchased at any book store. These rules are marked off with a 
number of different units equalling a foot, among them being 
M inch to a foot. If one of these special rules is not at hand, one 
can take a piece of cardboard or a thin piece of wood and make a 
scale. This is done by laying off j4 inch any number of times to 
give any length to the rule that is desired and marking these divi¬ 
sions in regular order with the number of feet. Such a scale is 
shown in Figure 27. With this rule the rooms can be laid off so 
that they are proportionally the same size as the rooms in the 
furnished house. It is entirely possible in place of using a special 
rule to use the ordinary foot rule by computing the size of rooms 
in inches and laying off room sizes in the same way as explained 
in the previous paragraph. 

I i i i r | i i i i |" i i i i | i i i i | 

0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 3 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 16 19 20 


Fig. 27. HOME-MADE SCALE, MADE OUT OF A PIECE OF 
CARDBOARD 

By use of either of the above methods, get the size of rooms 
laid off on cardboard, and then cut out all the rooms to scale and 
label them with a pen or pencil, giving the name of the rooms and 
putting the dimensions on the edge of the card, as shown in Figure 
28. It is only necessary at this time to cut out cardboards for the 
major rooms, such as kitchen, dining room, living room, bedrooms, 
library, bathroom, etc. Do not pay any attention to halls, closets, 
porches, or garages. The method of adding these auxiliary parts 
of a house will be explained later. Of course, the cardboard rooms 
are cut apart, so all the rooms are separated. For example, Figure 
28 shows the cardboard rooms for five rooms cut to *4 inch scale 
and ready for use in the game. 

If this game is to be played very often and many cardboards 




84 


The Game of Planning a House 


are needed, as would be the case with an architect or a lumber 
dealer to supply his customers or a teacher to furnish his pupils, 
then the mimeograph cardboards as shown in Figure 29 will be 
found very satisfactory. The figures placed horizontally on the 
cardboard give the dimensions between the vertical lines. These 
dimensions are so arranged on the card that one can get about any 
width room or length of room that is desired from two feet up to 
forty-two. This range is large enough to take care of the ordinary 
house. The horizontal lines are placed a foot apart, with the heavy 
horizontal lines placed either three or four feet apart. Figures are 
also placed on the vertical lines, giving distances between the heavy 
horizontal lines. 

To use this card, all that is needed is a pair of scissors. The 
desired sized rooms can be cut out with little difficulty. This type 
of card is very handy for one who is using the cardboards quite 
frequently. The sheet shown in this figure is of regular letterhead 
size, 8/4 " x 11", and the scale is Y" to a foot. 

Now, everything is set for the game to start! 

Turn to page 40 where all the various shapes are shown in 
Figure 1. Next, take the cardboards of the various rooms, start 
with the first shape and see how many solutions to this one shape 
you can get by shifting the rooms around. The idea is to see how 
many different arrangements of rooms you can obtain and still 
have the outside outline of the cardboards in the shape with which 
you are working. Of course, it is desirable that the rooms have 
a very definite relation to each other. By this is meant that you 
want the kitchen next to the dining room in about every solution. 
Then, too, it is desirable to have the bathroom near the bedrooms. 
Such precautions as these will just naturally be taken by anyone 
who is thinking out a house plan. 

Play for the Shape 

One need not necessarily start with the square shape. It is 
probably better to start with the notched shape, because it is the 
easiest. Remember that you are playing to see how many ways you 
can put these various rooms into a given shape, in a satisfactory 


The Game Starts 


85 



Fig. 28. CARDBOARDS CUT OUT AND LABELED, READY TO “PLAY 
THE GAME” IN ARRANGING THE FLOOR PLAN OF A FIVE- 
ROOM HOUSE. 

(Numbers give slue of room in feet) 
















86 


The Game of Planning a House 














Oi 


Oi 

Oi 

0* 

Oi 







10 

12 

6 

8 

2 

4 













Oi 

Oi 

o, 

Oi 

Oi 

m 







10 

12 

6 

8 

2 

4 







_ 







Oi 

u> 

Oi 

Oi 

Oi 







10 

12 

6 

8 

2 

4 













u> 

Oi 

0» 

Oi 

Oi 

OI 







id ~ 

12 

6 

8 

2 

4 













o> 

Ol_ 

Oi 

Oi 

Oi 

u_ 







10 

12 

6 

8 

2 

4 







u 

u 

Oi 

u 

w 

u 

10 

12 

6 

8 

2 

4 


Kig. 29. A PIECE OF LIGHT WEIGHT CARDBOARD 8'/ 2 xl 1 INCHES 
ON WHICH HAS BEEN MIMEOGRAPHED A CROSS SECTION 
SCALE OF G INCH EQUALS ONE FOOT. A PAIR OF SCISSORS 
IS ALL THAT IS NEEDED WITH THIS CARD IN ORDER TO 
CUT OUT ROOMS OF THE REQUIRED SIZE TO PROPER 
SCALE FOR THE “GAME.” 





























































The Game Starts 


87 


way. In most cases there are a number of arrangements of rooms 
for each shape. A little study and work will find them. 

When a solution is obtained, the cardboard blocks should be 
placed on a piece of white paper, usually 814 inches by 11 inches, 
unless the house is very large, and a pencil run around all the 
cardboards and the divisions between each one of the cardboards. 
Then take the cardboards off, label the rooms, and put the dimen¬ 
sions on the sides as shown in Figure 30. In this way you keep each 
solution that you work out, and accumulate all the possible solutions 
to your problems. You will finally pick from all these solutions 
those that appeal to you as the best and work one or more of them 
up into final form. 

Now, in working out these solutions there are several things to 
keep in mind. The first one is not to worry so much about where 
the porches, closets, and such are to come. The halls will just nat¬ 
urally appear in some of the solutions. Let them stay, and do not 
worry about them. Work for the arrangement of rooms. Get as 
many different arrangements as possible for the different shapes. 
It is going to take some time to study out the number of solutions 
that one can get, but remember, someone is going to live in this 
house a long time. So if you want the best house possible from 
the standpoint of comfort, convenience, and contentment, take time 
now. The game cannot be done all at one sitting. When tired of it, 
go away and leave it and come back to it when you are fresh. 

You will find that some of the rooms have very definite com¬ 
binations which will repeatedly appear. For example, if you have 
two bedrooms and a bathroom, there are not very many arrange ¬ 
ments, relatively speaking, that you can work out which will keep 
the bathroom adjacent to these two bedrooms. You will soon 
become familiar with these combinations. 

It may be you can entice some of your friends to take some 
cardboard and play out solutions for you. If this can be done, you 
will get some solutions and combinations of which you would never 
have thought. Of course, they will work up some that you have 
found yourself. The game is remarkable from this standpoint. I 


88 


Tiie Game of Planning a House 



Fig. 30. ONE SOLUTION FOR A RECTANGULAR SHAPED HOUSE 

Arranged with the cardboards shown in Fig. 28. Solution drawn on paper 
(pencil can be used) in order to use cardboards again to obtain 
other solutions. 











The Game Starts 


89 


had this brought out very forcefully sometime ago when I was 
working on the solution of a certain size home for which I got 
eight excellent solutions. I sent blocks representing the proposed 
rooms to a woman in Atlanta, Georgia, who was working with me 
on this house. She worked out the same number of solutions as I 
did. When we compared our solutions, which had been made inde¬ 
pendent of each other, we found we had practically the same ones. 
1 have also worked with others who have obtained many solutions 
that I did not get. 

This method of working out room arrangements for homes 
offers an abundant opportunity for systematic and original think¬ 
ing on one’s home plan problem. 

To give an idea as to how these solutions can be worked out, I 
have taken a hve-room house with sizes of rooms that are not the 
best. The sizes of rooms that I am using in this series of solutions 
are these: 14x14 for the bedrooms, 14x16 for the living room, 
12x14 for the dining room, 10x12 for the kitchen, and 6x8 for the 
bathroom. These are the sizes of rooms found to be popular in the 
survey of southern farm homes. In some cases these rooms are not 
of the right shape or size, but they offer a problem for solution, 
which is herewith solved in much the same way as any other house 
plan will be. 

The solutions that I am giving to the possible arrangements 
for these various sized rooms are not what I would call the best 
or ideal. They are solutions, however, and will give an idea of 
how the game is played. 

Here they are: 

The bedrooms are labeled with a B, living room with an L, 
dining room with a D, kitchen with a K, and the bathroom with BA. 

I am taking the solutions in the same order as given in the 
house shapes as shown in Figure 1. 

The square shape did not work out very well with these sizes 
of rooms; so it is omitted. In fact, we could not get a satisfactory 
solution for this shape. It can be done, but will give too much 
waste space. Try it and see; maybe you can solve it. 


90 


The Game of Planning a House 


Figure 31 shows the rectangular house. It worked out very 
nicely. The hall, it will be noted, developed very well in this plan. 
The arrangement is not bad at all, and it is a true rectangle. This 
is a very popular shape, and one for which it is easy to get several 
solutions. 




1 he Game Starts 


91 



Fig. 31. A RECTANGULAR SHAPED HOUSE ROOM ARRANGEMENT 

(Five Rooms) 

B—Bedroom; L—Living Room; D—Dining Room; K—Kitchen; 

BA—Bathroom. 









92 


The Game of Planning a House 


The notched house is shown in Figure 32. This is not a bad 
arrangement of rooms at all. It may be felt that the top line of the 
house is not straight, but this need not trouble one too much at 
this stage of the game, because many such irregularities are elim¬ 
inated as the plan progresses. In this case a hall between dining and 
living room will do the job. This shape is the most popular, and 
many solutions to it are possible. 


The Game Starts 


93 



ig. 32. A NOTCHED SHAPED HOUSE ROOM ARRANGEMENT 

(Five Rooms) 











94 


The Game of Planning a House 


The double notched (side) house is shown in Figure 33, with 
an arrangement that has some drawbacks. The living room does 
not seem to be placed to the best advantage. A new combination for 
the two bedrooms and bath over the previous solutions is brought 
out here. The fact that the kitchen and bathroom are close together 
means economy in plumbing. 


The Game Starts 


95 



Fig. 33. A DOUBLE NOTCHED (SIDE) SHAPED HOUSE 
ROOM ARRANGEMENT 
(Five Rooms) 








96 


The Game of Planning a House 


The double notched (end) house, Figure 34, gives an excel¬ 
lent location for the dining room. Someone says this room needs to 
be light, cheerful, and airy. It has all of that in this set-up. This is 
not at all a bad arrangement. Each room, too, is a corner room. 
The bath has moved still closer to the kitchen. 


The Game Starts 



Fig. 34. A DOUBLE NOTCHED (END) SHAPED HOUSE 
ROOM ARRANGEMENT 
(Five Rooms) 











98 


The Game of Planning a House 


The ell house solution, Figure 35, is not anything to brag 
about. This is a popular shape. It has, however, possibilities when 
the long back porch is used and the house is built in a mild climate. 
It must be borne in mind that there are many solutions to each 
shape, and it is not possible or advisable to try to show all of them 
here. 


The Game Starts 


99 



Fig. 35. AN ELL SHAPED HOUSE ROOM ARRANGEMENT 
(Five Room!)) 









100 


The Game of Planning a House 


The yoo house, Figure 36, shows a good arrangement for a 
five-room house. The two distant parts of the house are balanced, 
on either side of the living room. A place is provided for a patio 
or a garden in the rear. This shape is not used as much as it merits, 
particularly in the mild climates. 



The Game Star.ts 


101 



Fig. 36. A YOO SHAPED HOUSE ROOM ARRANGEMENT 
(Five Rooms) 









102 


The Game of Planning a House 


The a'tch house, Figure 37, has a good deal the same set-up 
that the yoo house has. This solution of this particular shape is a 
very popular one. The front offers possibilities for a porch or ter¬ 
race, while the rear gives a place for the patio, terrace, garden, or 
outdoor living room. This mtch house can be worked into a pro¬ 
gressive or unit type house very easily. By progressive is meant 
that it can be added to from time to time; but more about this 
feature of this shape will be given later. 


The Game Starts 


103 



Fig. 37. AN AITCH SHAPED HOUSE ROOM ARRANGEMENT 

(Five Rooms) 







104 


Tiif. Game of Planning a House 


The tee house, Figure 38, is a fair arrangement. One bedroom 
is a long way from the bath. The arrangement is airy but expen¬ 
sive. It offers two excellent places for porches. It is a type that is 
met rather often and runs in bunches. One railroad I know uses 
th's type almost entirely for section houses. 


The G a m e St a rts 


105 



Fig. 38. A TEE SHAPED HOUSE ROOM ARRANGEMENT 
(Five Rooms) 











106 


The Game of Planning a House 


The zee house, Figure 39, is not so bad. The easiest way to get 
a solution to this one is to take the two sets of rooms,—in this case, 
Figure 39, set one is the two bedrooms and bath, while set two is 
the other three rooms—and slip one set on the other. It was that 
description that led to the discovery of this type. Slip these two 
sets of rooms the other way and a rectangular or notched house 
appears. Sometimes this plan is developed by slipping two sets of 
rooms (vertically) on the side of another set of rooms, as shown 
in Figures 22 and 23. 


The Game Starts 


107 



Fig. 39. A ZEE SHAPED HOUSE ROOM ARRANGEMENT 
(Five Rooms) 










108 


The Game of Planning a House 




The cross house, Figure 40, has a fair solution. It seems that 
this particular shape does not work out well with these sizes of 
rooms. The dining room in this solution would move back even 
with the kitchen, where the closets were put in the bedroom. This 
shape is little known and not often found in plan books. 



Fig. 40. A CROSS SHAPED HOUSE ROOM ARRANGEMENT 

(Five Rooms) 










The Game of Planning a House 


110 


These solutions are given merely to acquaint one with just 
how this part of the game is played, and if that is accomplished, 
there should be no difficulty in working out a great many different 
solutions to any house problem that may come up. 

It is really surprising how many solutions it is possible to get 
ro any one problem of a house plan containing so many rooms of 
certain sizes. From a mathematical standpoint here are the numbers 
that one can get: 


NUMBER OF POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO HOUSE FLOOR PLANS 


Size of House 
(Number of Rooms) 

3 Rooms and Bath 


4 

« 

u 

a 

5 

a 

a 

a 

6 

a 

a 

u 

7 

a 

a 

a 

8 

u 

a 

a 

9 

u 

a 

a 

i n 

a 

a 

a 


Number of 
Plans Possible 

264 

1,320 

7,920 

55,440 

443,520 

3,991,680 

40,916,800 

450,084,800 


I his is considering that the house is a one-story structure and that 
it is to be planned in eleven different shapes. Really, these figures 
are conservative, because it would be possible to work up other 
shapes, and there are closets, porches, and, in some cases, additional 
bathrooms. If these were included, it would run the number of pos¬ 
sibilities up. So, conservatively speaking, there are over 450 million 
solutions to the ten-room, one-story house plan! 

With all the solutions possible for even a three-room house, 
one should not have any trouble working out a few, say thirty or 
forty, and picking out the one he likes best. 

1 he game thus far has discussed only the one-story house, but 
it works just as well for the two-story house. To play the game 
for the two-story house the start should be made with the arrange¬ 
ment of the rooms on the first floor. In other words, forget the 
second floor for the time being and play the game through, getting 


The Game Starts 


111 


all the possible solutions of the arrangement of rooms for the 
ground floor. Then take the outlines of these various solutions for 
the first floor and arrange the cardboards of the rooms for the 
second floor into these various outlines. The only difference :n 
the game for one- and two-story houses is that the game is twice as 
big with the two stories, because it has to be played twice, once for 
each floor. However, one will find that usually with the small two- 
story houses the number of rooms on each floor is smaller, with 
the result that one gets fewer combinations. 


Chapter VII 


FINISHING THE BEST SOLUTION 

When a large number of solutions to the problem have been 
obtained,—and it is not unusual or difficult to get from twenty to 
thirty different plans for a small house, say five or six rooms—the 
next thing is to pick out the solution or the solutions which you 
think are the best. These are to be developed. Usually one plan is 
all that is developed. It may be advisable to develop more than one. 
That, of course, is up to the individual. 

The selection of this best solution of all those different ones 
that have been worked out is a little problem in itself. There are 
a good many things to consider. 

It would, of course, be just natural for one to select the ar¬ 
rangement of rooms that suits best, and the shape that appears as 
the most desirable, but there are other important items to cons’der 
that are frequently overlooked until too late. 

The location of the house has a great deal to do with the 
arrangement and design. Each house has its own particular possi¬ 
bilities and limitations. So the first thing to do is to get the location 
of the house and determine the directions on this location, north, 
south, east, and west, in regard to the house. Then determine the 
direction of prevailing winds, as has been suggested elsewhere. This 
will help locate the bedrooms and other rooms in the house with 
relation to these breezes. These prevailing breezes also frequently 
have a decided effect on the choice of a location for the house. For 
example, the position of the farm house with relation to the barns 
and other outbuildings should not be such as to bring the offensive 
odors into the house. 


112 


Finishing the Best Solution 


1 13 


In the consideration of breezes, attention should also be given 
to the winter storms. They usually come from certain different 
directions and, of course, would have a very marked influence on 
the house plan. 

I he compass directions on the house plan will also tell you the 
story of what the sun is going to do to your house. In the southern 
climate the afternoon sun gets pretty hot, and while it must hit the 
house somewhere, yet a little study will put the sun in the least 
objectionable place. 

The other day, while 1 was visiting a country home, the house¬ 
wife, in talking of houses, remarked that her front porch did not 
do her much good. When I asked, “Why?”, her reply was that 
in the late afternoon, when she was ready to use the porch, the sun 
was there. The porch was on the west side of the house. Now, 
porches can be built on the other sides of the house. They do not 
have to be built on the front or side, if either of these places 
is objectionable. Put them where they will give the greatest 
service. 

In climates where the sunlight is not as abundant as it is in 
others and, therefore, needs to be utilized to the fullest extent 
because of its therapeutic value, the house should be so oriented as 
to put the sun where it can do the greatest good at all times. It is 
not uncommon in such climates to have the house plans reversed 
from the usual order. That is, on lots where houses must be built 
facing north, the service rooms are put in the front and living 
rooms in the rear, in order that they may get the maximum 
sunlight. 

The morning sun is a cheery messenger; so let him bring his 
story to the right place in the house,—dining room, kitchen, living 
rooms, bathroom, or any other rooms you think desirable. 

To those who want to study carefully the proper orientation of 
the house with relation to sunlight, and 1 think it would be a very 
profitable study to make for every house, the orientation chart, 


The Game of Planning a House 


114 

Figure 41, taken from “Orienting the House”, 1 together with its 
explanation of the diagram will be helpful. 

“The Orientation Chart, here given, shows the points of sunrise and sunset, 
on the horizon, midsummer and midwinter, as well as the direction of the sunlight 
each successive hour of the midsummer and midwinter day. The chart will thus 
aid you, so far as conditions permit, in facing your house so as to get the sun or 
shade where you want it. 

“In the first place, you see three broad, concentric circles on the outside ot 
which the rising and setting sun is depicted for both midsummer and midwinter 
day. The figures, 30° and 50°, alongside of the sun represent degrees of north 
latitude, wherever you may happen to live, which, with the exception of most of 
Florida and southern Texas, cover the United States. The short arrow's show the 
direction of the sun’s rays at sunrise and sunset. 

“The inner circle represents your horizon, and the degrees marked upon it 
show the points of sunrise and sunset, north or south of the direct east and west 
line. These angular distances, in terms of degrees, arc called amplitudes, north or 
south, and must not be confused with the degree of latitude on the earth’s surface, 
indicated by the numbers alongside of the sun, though intimately dependent upon 
them. The amplitude of the horizon point, where the sun rises and sets from 
time to time during the year, always depends upon the latitude on the earth’s 
surface where you happen to live, as may be seen bv following with your eye the 
direction of the arrows of latitude through the amplitude circle. Starting from 
the number indicating the latitude where you live, trace the arrow until it touche: 
the amplitude circle. You can then read the degree on it which shows how far 
north or south of the east and west line the sun rises or sets. . . . 

“The two outer circles are sun-dials for midsummer and midwinter day at 
the 40th degree of north latitude; and, if you imagined them pivoted on their 
rising and setting points and tipped up from the south to represent the slanting 
path of the sun during the day, they show the direction from which the sun is 
shining during successive hours of the day (or night on the other side of the 
world). The shaded portions of these circles represent night, which for all north¬ 
ern latitudes is short in summer and long in winter, as the day is short in winter 
and long in summer. . . . 

“The chart is drawn lor midsummer and midwinter day on the 40th degree 
of north latitude, which is taken as the best average line that runs midway of the 
country from ocean to ocean. 2 . . . 


1 American Face Brick Association. Orienting the House. Chicago, Illinois, 1922. 

"You can get the location of the place where you are building your house, with relation to 
degrees of north latitude, if it is in the United States, by consulting a map of the United 


Finishing the Best Solution 


I 1 5 



FIG. 41. ORIENTATION CHART, THE USE OF WHICH WILL 
ENABLE ONE TO SO ARRANGE A HOUSE AS TO TAKE 
ADVANTAGE OF THE SUN AND THE SHADE 



























116 


The Game of Pi .ANNING A H OUSE 


“You will see, as drawn on the chart, how the sun’s rays morning and eve¬ 
ning, summer and winter, are indicated streaming out in the direction of the 
latitude arrows marked 40°. If you live on or near any of the other degrees of 
latitude, indicated by the other arrows, imagine the center of the sun slipped up 
or down to that point, and then trace the rays lightly with a soft pencil across the 
chart in lines parallel with the respective arrows. Of course, if you make any 
change, all four suns must be moved in a corresponding way, for you will 
observe how beautifully symmetrical the chart is. . . . 

“You have certain rooms in which you especially want the sun, morning or 
afternoon; or a porch you want as much in the shade as possible, let us say. In 
tracing the direction of the sun’s rays, do not think of them as converging or as 
spreading out. Think of them rather as coming in great, broad, parallel bands so 
that no matter how large your house may be, the moment one side gets the sun, 
the opposite parallel side falls into shade. The broad band of parallel lines stream¬ 
ing from the sun, as seen on the chart, is meant to illustrate this. 

“Now cut a piece of light cardboard in the shape of your house, at a greatly 
reduced scale, with all its porches and projections, as, for example, the blank 
form on the chart. Attach it with a pin at the center of the chart, so it may be 
easily turned. First place your house facing directly east. You will see on mid¬ 
summer day that the north and cast elevations will get the first morning sun. 

States. In order to assist you in this matter, if an atlas is not at hand, the following cities are 


approximately on the various degrees 

of latitude which they follow. 


30° 

San Antonio, Tex. (S) 
Jacksonville, Fla (N) 

Houston, Tex. (S) 

New Orleans, La. 

.15° 

Los Angeles, Calif. (S) 

Prescott, Ariz. (S) 

Albuquerque, N. M. (N) 


Amarillo, Tex. (N) 

Oklahoma City, Okla. (N) 

Little Rock, Ark. (S) 


Memphis, Term. 

Charlotte, N. C. (N) 

Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Northern boundary of 
Mississippi, Alabama, 
and Georgia 

40° 

Sacramento, Calif. (S)* 

Carson City, Nev. (S) 

Salt Lake City, L T tah (N) 


Denver, Colo. (S) 

Northern boundary of Kans. 

Kansas City, Mo. (S) 


St. Louis, Mo. (S) * 

Springfield, Ill. (S) 

Indianapolis, Ind. (S) 


Columbus, Ohio 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

New York City (N) 

45 0 

Portland, Ore. (N) 

Boise, Idaho (S)* 

Northern boundary 


Pierre, S. D. (S) 

Minneapolis, Minn. 

of Wyoming 

St. Paul, Minn. 


Northern boundary of New York State and Vermont 

Bangor, Me. (S) 


•With the exception of Sacramento, Calif., St. Louis, Mo., and Boise, Idaho, all of the 
places in the table are either on or within less than a degree of the latitude indicated for them. 
Cities not on the line are either north or south of if, as indicated by the letters in parentheses 
following the names. 


Finishing the Best Solution 


117 


About 8 o clock the sun will leave the north side and begin to illuminate the south 
elevation. At noon, the sun will pass from the east to the west side of the house, 
and then, at 4 o’clock, leave the south and creep back to the north side of the 
house, shining on west and north sides from then on until its setting between 
7 and 8 o’clock in the evening. 

“At the opposite season ol the year, that is, in midwinter, your house, still 
laced directly east, will have the first sun between 7 and 8 o’clock in the morning 
on the east and south sides. At noon, the east side will be deserted for the west, 
and trom then on the south and west sides of the house will have the sun until its 
setting between 4 and 5 o’clock. Ihus, in the winter, the north side of your house 
will get no sun at all. l'his would hardly be a good place for the kitchen, thougli 
it would be well enough in the summer, as the sun would be out of it by 8 o’clock 
in the morning and not return until 4 o’clock in the afternoon when its rays are 
shorn of much ol their midday strength. You know, of course, that during the 
changing seasons or the changing hours of the day, the sun’s warmth depends 
largely on the slant of its rays. In the summer, the north side would be a good 
place for a shady porch most of the day. However, the east side of the house 
would give you a shady porch from noon till sunset. Hut a porch around the 
northeast corner would give you shade from 8 o’clock in the morning clear through 
the day until sunset. 

“By turning your house one way or another from this direct east and w'est 
position, you can see what modifications of sun and shade you get. Suppose you 
turn it northeast, almpst facing the morning sun on midsummer day. The front 
of the house would directly get the rising sun between 4 and 5 o’clock in the 
morning. At 6 o’clock the south front would come into the sunlight. At half-past 
10 o’clock, the east front would fall into shade for the rest of the day, while the 
west front would begin to catch the sun. By 2:30 o’clock in the afternoon, the 
south side would be in the shade for the rest of the day, and the north side would 
get the sun from then on till sunset, between 7 and 8 o’clock. A porch on the east 
front of this house would be in the shade all the summer day after half-past 10 
o’clock. But, in the winter, it would not be so fortunate as the house faced to the 
cardinal points, for, as just indicated, it would get the sun only on two sides all 
day long; and yet the summer advantages might more than compensate. Try 
slighter turns than those suggested, and you may get just the result you want for a 
given room or porch. 

“The placing of your house for the sun is really a problem of settling on 
the rooms or porches you want favored, and then letting the other portions of the 
house take care of themselves. In determining these questions of sun and shade 
on your house, due consideration must be given to neighboring structures, trees, or 
portions of the house that might otherwise get the sun if it were not for certain 
extensions, such as bays, porches, L’s, and the like. Ol course, near-by hills or 
mountains would have a marked effect on just when you got die sun in the morn¬ 
ing or lost it in the evening, no matter where or when the sun really rose and 
set.” 


118 


The Game of Planning a House 


So, in the selection of the solution or solutions thought to be 
best, keep in mind the location with what Mr. Weatherman and 
old Sol will do to the house. 

Study the plan you select from the standpoint of size of loca¬ 
tion. In a city it is not only the size of lot but any limitations that 
the lot itself might have on it in the shape of trees, the surface of 
the land, as well as city ordinances. In the country the amount of 
land available does not, as a rule, limit size, but the trees or land 
surface peculiarities and such things may. 

Having thus checked the selected plan with the weather, sun, 
and location limitations, the next thing to do in its development is 
to add the halls, closets, and other incidental things. Determine 
first what closets, hall, porches, and other such additions you want 
in the house and about where you would like to have them. Before 
going any further it will be necessary to arrange the cardboards 
for the various rooms as indicated in the chosen plan. Then try to 
add these additions by slipping the cardboards apart at the places 
where they are to be placed. It will take a little thought, ingenuity, 
and study to work out just the best place to put them. But it can 
be done. It may be found that the solution you have selected does 
not work out best when these additions are made, in which case it 
may be desirable to go back and pick out the next best solution and 
develop it through the same process to a better final solution than 
the first one that you selected. 

This is not a difficult procedure, but in order to give an idea 
of just how it works out, I am showing how this method was 
employed by a series of steps in the design of a seven-room, single- 
story house that was worked out recently in this way. I am not 
advocating that all seven-room houses shall be single stories nor 
that this arrangement of rooms is ideal, but this problem came 
along not so long ago and worked out so well that it illustrates the 
idea in a very fine way. The original solution as obtained with the 
cardboard blocks is shown in Figure 42, while in Figure 43 the 
same plan is shown with the cardboards slipped apart and the vari¬ 
ous closets, halls, porches, and doors inserted. 


Finishing the Best Solution 119 



Fig. 42. A SEVEN-ROOM NOTCHED SHAPED HOUSE PLAN 
ARRANGED WITH CARDS 

(Numbers give dimensions of rooms in feet) 





























120 


The Game of Pi .ann ing a House 



. 


. 


KLTcrren 


mSM 

9ml0f§ 


io , 

12 

BED 

ROOM 


m) 


ROOM 


CIO 


BED ROOM 


ROOM 


LlbR^RT 


ROOM 


Living 




Fig. 43. SAME FLAN AS SHOWN IN FIG. 42 WITH CARDS SLIPPED 
APART; CLOSETS, HALLS, PUT IN; WINDOWS AND DOORS 
MARKED; PORCHES AND STOOP ADDED 
{Numbers give length or width of room in feet ) 



































Finishing the Best Solution 


121 




Fig. 44. SAME PLAN AS SHOWN IN FIGS. 42 AND 43 AFTER THE 
ARCHITECT HAS SKETCHED IT ON PAPER 













122 


T he Game of Planning a House 


In Figure 44 is shown this same plan after the architect has 
made up a floor plan and a prospectus of the finished house. Of 
course, we do not go from the cardboards, as shown in Figure 43, 
right to the architect in this game, but 1 am short-circuiting this 
story to show you how a floor plan looks from the architect’s stand 
point when made up from these cardboards. 

After the cardboards are slipped apart and the closets, hall, etc., 
are all in place, then add the porch, porches, or terraces if there are 
to be any. Use the same symbols that are used in Figure 43. With 
this done, the next thing is to add the doors and windows. The 
symbol for a window is with the —S ,— , for a door 

door swinging the way you want it to swing. 

T he putting in of the doors, windows, halls, closets, porches, 
etc., which must all be carefully thought out with the cardboard, 
takes time. It should require some little study to see that these are 
all put in as they should be and that they are just as you would like 
to have them in the finished house. Now we come to the part of the 
game that will take you back to your boyhood and girlhood days, 
when paper dolls and play houses were the big things in the day’s 
work. 




Chapter VIII 


VISUALIZING THE COMPLETE PLAN 


I he game now is to see how this house will look and work 
when completed. This should be done before we start building it 
or even before we have the architect draw it up. What we want to 
do is to see, just as nearly as we can, how living in a house of this 
plan would really work, and all this before we actually build it. It 
is important that we know just how everything is going to fit in and 
operate. Will the doors, windows, closets, and halls go in here and 
there to the best advantage, or can they be placed somewhere else 
and serve better? Are the sizes of rooms O. K.? There are a hun¬ 
dred and one things that we ought to make sure are right before 
construction starts. The best way to check up on the entire plan is 
to build the house in miniature, to a definite relative size, and then 
put in the doors, windows, and furniture. In other words, play 
doll house with this new house plan. 

The first step in doing this is to cut out of panel board, very 
heavy cardboard, corrugated board, or some such material, the 
various rooms, halls, closets, and porches to the scale of % inch 
to equal one foot. This can be accomplished by scaling off the sizes 
of the rooms in a way similar to that explained in Chapter VI for 
the small cardboards. The only difference is that instead of using 
/4 inch to equal a foot, in this case we use inch to equal a foot. 

The panel board of any thickness that is handy to obtain (and 
l have found that very good material to use) will need to be sawed 
out to these sizes. Then, the rooms are assembled on a flat surface, 
such as a table, in the order they are in the plan. It would probably 
be a good thing just to write on the boards representing the various 

123 


124 


The Game of Planning a House 



Fig. 45. TWO ROOMS, KITCHEN (K) AND LIVING ROOM (L), 
WITH HALL (H), BATH (BA), AND CLOSETS (C) OF A UNIT 
OR PROGRESSIVE HOUSE, CUT OUT OF PANEL BOARD TO 
SCALE y A INCH EQUALS ONE FOOT. 

{The first step in the development of the Progressive House ) 









Visualizing the Complete Plan 


125 


rooms what they are, so that the entire plan, when looked at, can 
be readily visualized. 

To get a more concrete idea of this procedure, I am showing 
in Figure 47 the plan of an ^/7c^-shape five-room house which is 
also a progressive or unit type house. While this house type has 
been used for some time and known as the unit type, yet I feel 
that “progressive” is a better name for it, because it lends itself 
to use where the owner wishes to start in a small way to build part 
of the house and then add to it as time goes on, money becomes 
available, or family needs require additions. I am taking this plan 
of this type of house which was developed sometime ago to fill a 
definite need, because it will show a new adaptation of this idea, 
and at the same time, show how the game is played. 

The various rooms of this house were cut out of panel board 
and lettered. In this case the letters have the same meaning used 
in Chapter IV 5 namely, B—bedroom; BA—bathroom; BR— 
breakfast room; C—Closets; D—dining room; H-—hall; K— 
kitchen; L—living room; P—porch. 

In Figure 45 is shown the start of the progressive house. It 
contains two rooms and bath. These two rooms are the kitchen and 
living room. One can build just this much of the home to start with 
and add to it as money becomes available. Nothing needs to be torn 
out when an addition is made. These two rooms are about as little 
as one can get along with. The kitchen will serve as a place to eat 
the meals as well as to prepare them. The living room will have 
to be used for a bedroom as well as for its usual functions. Large 
closets are, however, provided and they are, of course, needed badly 
in so small a house. 

The addition of two rooms to this same house brings the ar¬ 
rangement shown in Figure 46. The two rooms—a bedroom and 
breakfast room—and a back porch are added to the rear of the 
house. Then in Figure 47 is shown still another addition of tvro 
rooms—a bedroom and dining room—on the front of the house. 
The house is now complete and shows a very good arrangement 


126 


The Game of Planning a House 





i 'V *• 'h 'Vp| 





* 

| : 

Ml 


m% * 

1 

' ^ tJ 

. 

> 

.. 

m s 

k M . — 

I ' 1 

i 

T 

I " p 

...•*« p- 

1 

^ ‘ i . L 

x t 

" f 4mhLi 

c 

1 

c ^ • i 

* i 


Fig. 46. THE SAME PROGRESSIVE HOUSE AS IN FIG. 45 TO WHICH 
HAS BEEN ADDED A BREAKFAST ROOM (BR), A PORCH (P), 
AND A BEDROOM (B). 

(The second step in the building of a Progressive House) 







Visualizing the Complete Plan 


127 



Fig. 47. THE SAME PROGRESSIVE HOUSE AS IN FIGS. 45 AND 46 
WITH TWO MORE ROOMS ADDED—DINING ROOM (D) AND 
ANOTHER BEDROOM (B). 

This completes the development of the Progressive House plan shown, 
which now takes on the form of the Aitch shape. 















128 


The Game of Planning a House 


of a five-room aitch house. This same house might be so planned 
that it could be carried even further by the addition of two bed¬ 
rooms in the attic. 

Just a word by way of further explanation of this progressive 
house design shown before we leave it. While the completion of 
this house has been shown in three different steps, that does not 
necessarily mean that it should be done in just so many steps. It 
can be done in five steps or it may be completed in two. The main 
idea is that it offers a method of planning houses which are started 
in a small way, added to as time goes on, but which at all times 
have a final goal in view. Too many houses start in a small way and 
get their additions without any particular thought or study at the 
start as to just where these are to be made. When a house is planned 
this way, a program is laid out which is carried through as time 
goes on and conditions permit its being done. In this progressive 
house, the places for future doors are studied out, and windows 
are placed at these points, in order that the doors may be put in 
with the least trouble when the additions arc made. Other signifi¬ 
cant points to remember in the development of this type of house 
are that the roof should be so planned that, when additions are put 
on, the rest of the house is not uncovered j also that the house, 
during various stages of its development, shall have a good appear¬ 
ance and not radiate an unfinished atmosphere. 

But now let us get back to the game and Figure 47 with its 
panel board rooms all cut out and arranged in a five-room, a'tch 
type house. 

This figure shows how the panel boards for this example are 
cut out, labeled, and laid on the table ready to proceed further with 
the visualization of the plan. 

^ ou can do the same with the plan you are using, except that 
you will probably just write the name of the rooms on the blocks 
rather than use large letters such as these. 

The next thing to do in this visualization is to add the doors 
to the house. It is important that the doors be well located and 


Visualizing the Complete Plan 


129 



ABC 

Fig. 48. MINIATURE DOORS FOR USE IN THE FINAL PARE OF 

“THE GAME.” 

A and B show doors with fittings ready to be placed on panel boards. C and D 
show doors without fittings. E and F show the two types of fittings which 
are made of a nail and piece of galvanized iron. E fitting is used on door 
B and F fitting on door A. 















130 


The Game of Planning a House 


swing in the right direction. Doors for this purpose are, fortunately, 
easy to make. Figure 48 shows how doors can be built for this 
purpose. They consist of a thin piece of wood with a small hole 
bored in one end of it. This is set on a nail which is soldered on a 
piece of bent sheet iron, as shown in Figure 48. 

Doors of this kind will readily stand anywhere on the panel 
boards, because the projecting part of the # sheet iron will fit between 
or on the outside of the panel boards. The doors are free to swing 
either way. Therefore, it is easy to show the way you desire your 
doors to swing. The width of the doors is made three feet or a 
trifle less, and about seven feet high, all to the scale of inch to 
the foot. These doors can be easily made and without much expense. 

After the doors are located, then the windows should be put in 
place. The windows can be fixed up as shown in Figure 49. Ordi¬ 
nary window glass cut three feet wide and about as high as the 
doors, to the scale of 3/\ inch to the foot, works very satisfactorily. 
These glasses are fitted on the bottom with a piece of sheet iron or 
tin cut in the way and bent to the shape that is shown in Figure 49. 
When the glass is put in this p : ece of sheet iron, it should be 
pinched together, in order that the glass be held upright. The 
windows are then ready to be put around the outside of the panel 
board, with the projection of sheet iron slipped under the panel 
board, holding the windows in a vertical position. This design al¬ 
lows the windows to be easily slipped back and forth, and this puts 
them into the exact position that is desired. 

It will take some study and thought to place the windows and 
doors in just the way they should be. There is one advantage, how¬ 
ever, and that is you can change your mind as often as you wish; 
resulting changes are easy to make. This changing and experiment¬ 
ing should be done now; it’s cheaper than doing it after the house 
is built. 

The doors and windows are now in place, and we know how 
they are going to be; but to visualize this house completely we 
must go a little further, because we want to see just how we are 


Visualizing the Complete Plan 


131 



Fig. 4<T MINIATURE WINDOWS FOR THE PLAY HOUSE 
These windows are made of plate glass, but ordinary window glass could be used. 
They are fitted with a piece of galvanized iron as shown in the lower right- 
hand corner of the figure. 



132 


The Game of Planning a House 


going to use each room. So the next step is to furnish the house. 
This is done by actually putting the furniture in the house. In this 
way one can see how the finished house would look if the roof were 
taken off and an inspection made after the house was occupied. Fig 
ure 50 (Frontispiece) shows the doors, windows, rugs and furni¬ 
ture put in the aitch house of Figure 47. It shows more clearly 
than words the idea above described. 

The problem of putting the furniture in the house is not as 
difficult as it may first seem. The first thing to do is to put linoleum 
on the kitchen and bathroom floors, if that is what is to be used in 
these rooms. If the same kind of floor covering is to be used in the 
other rooms, put it there too. Scraps of linoleum can be used for 
this purpose. Often furniture dealers have sample pieces that may 
be obtained without charge or at very little cost. The furniture 
dealer is usually willing to co-operate in the planning of a house, 
because it frequently means future furniture sales. 

Rugs should be put into the rooms where they are to be used. 
Heavy tapestry, such as utilized for window draperies, auto covers, 
or upholstery for furniture, can be used in a very satisfactory way 
for this purpose. Until one has tried floor coverings in some models 
like this, it is hard to realize how necessary they are to the proper 
visualization of this plan. These rugs should be cut to scale (V\ 
inch equals a foot) and to the sizes that are to be used. If you 
do not know what are the popular standard sizes of rugs that will 
fit your rooms, I would suggest that you can get them from your 
furniture dealer. Here are the most popular sizes, according to 
one of the large carpet manufacturers who wrote as follows: “Sta 
tistics show that in rural communities the 9x12 and the 11.3x12 
and 11.3x15 sizes are the most popular sizes in the order named, 
while in the larger cities the 8.3x10.6 and 9x12 predominate.” 

The next step is to put the furniture in the house. The correct 
way would be to construct the miniature furniture to the same scale, 
*)4 inch to the foot, that the rooms, doors, and windows are built to. 
There is one disadvantage, however in having the furniture and the 
room sizes to the same scale j that is, the rooms will look crowded 


Visualizing tiie Complete Plan 


133 


when the furniture is placed in them. The rooms look crowded 
because it is hard for a person to visualize himself as being built 
on a small scale like the furniture and house and moving around 
in the house. It is, therefore, important in this kind of a set-up that 
one use a scale such as described in Figure 27 and measure the 
spaces left between the furniture, in order to know whether there 
is sufficient room for one to satisfactorily move around the furni¬ 
ture. 1 have found, in playing this game, that where one does not 
care to use the scale in determining distances between the furniture, 
he can use furniture built to a scale of j /2 inch to the foot. While 
this does not give an exact representation of the situation in any 
room, yet it gives a relative one which seems to be more pleasing 
to the average player of the game, because it shows the rooms as 
not being so crowded. However, if one wants to be exact and will 
take the scale and study the situation carefully and not be misled 
by the crowded appearance of the rooms, the use of the same scale 
for the rooms and the furniture is desirable. 

Satisfactory furniture for this purpose, fortunately, is inexpen¬ 
sive. Usually a complete line of it can be found in the large depart¬ 
ment stores or toy stores. Figure 5 0 shows some of these toys that 
are available in the places suggested. 

Another way to solve this furniture proposition is to build one’s 
own. If there is a handy boy around the house or a granddad who 
wants something to do, here is a job for him. Tell him to get some 
cigar boxes, take them apart, soak the paper off the wood, and with 
this wood build toy furniture to the scale decided upon. Figure 51 
shows some furniture of this type which was built by me and my 
son with little trouble. The first thing to do in building this furni¬ 
ture is to design it. Draw sketches of the furnished pieces just as 
you want them to appear. Put the dimensions on these drawings. 
Try to make the designs as simple as possible to start with, because 
they will be easier to build. After they are designed, then make a 
paper pattern for each part of each piece of furniture. Cardboard 
or heavy paper is best for this purpose. By use of these patterns, 


134 


The Game of Planning a House 







Fig. 50. The play house all finished, just as we want it to be after we have moved in. Rooms of the proper size 
shape and arrangement, with doors, windows and furniture all located in the proper place. 























Visualizing the Complete Plan 


135 


mark off on the pieces of wood, from the cigar box, the various 
parts of the furniture. Then cut these out. A small, inexpensive 
hand scroll saw will do this job very nicely. Then nail the parts to¬ 
gether with small brads, or glue them. Next, stain, paint, or var¬ 
nish the furniture to your taste. The furniture shown in Figure 51 
consists of a table with six chairs, a breakfast room set, and two 
beds, one bed without a bedspread and one with. 

If one enjoys building miniature things, here is an opportunity 
to get some fun, not only in building but in designing as well. If 
no other way is at hand, a few dollars in prize money will set a lot 
of youngsters to work. 

Still another method of getting together furniture for the 
house, in order to play the game, is to design the furniture as has 
been suggested and then cut it out of stiff cardboard. The legs can 
be folded down and the backs up, and the furniture in this way 
made to stand. Some people have gone still further and, by the 
use of watercolors, have painted the furniture and made it look 
very well. 

After this furniture is placed in the house, it will often be 
found that the arrangement of the furniture will bring in new 
locations for the windows and doors. That is one of the big reasons 
for going to all this trouble to check up on the many little things 
and get them right, in order that the house may best serve the 
people for whom it is built. It is, also, to enable one to see that the 
rooms are of the proper size and shape to take care of the family 
needs. 

Much of time and play will be consumed in getting this last 
part of the game worked out, but it is decidedly worthwhile, be¬ 
cause it is helping to eliminate mistakes. 

Now the plan is ready for the architect. If all the furniture 
has been placed in the house, with the windows and doors properly 
located, then this set-up is ready for the architect, the designer, 
the contractor, or whoever is going to do the job. An architect can 
take from this plan all the information he needs for the floor plan 
arrangement. Of course, the architect will have to talk with the 


136 


The Game of Planning a House 



Fig. 51. MINIATURE FURNITURE THAT CAN BE USED IN FUR¬ 
NISHING THE SMALL HOUSE IS EASILY MADE FROM CIGAR 
BOXES. 



Visualizing the Complete Plan 


137 


owner about architectural style, materials, and various parts of the 
building j but if he has the floor plan arranged to his liking, then he 
can make up the plan in such a way that it will show a contractor 
just exactly what is wanted. 

The game of planning a home, no doubt, will take some time, 
effort and study. Someone has said that the greatest enjoyment 
we get out of anything is the anticipation. If that is so, then the 
planning of a home, if it can be made satisfactorily to span a long 
time, is going to give lots of pleasure,—profitable pleasure. 


Chapter IX 


WHAT ABOUT THE OUTSIDE? 

The plan is now complete as far as arrangement of rooms is 
concerned. The next thing to decide on is how the house shall look 
from the outside. Just here is where many a good house fails to 
measure up to its possibilities. It is important and highly desirable 
that the exterior of the house have a pleasing appearance. This 
entire question is very well summed up by Aymar Embury II in 
his delightful book, The Livable House , as follows: 

“The plan, above all other things, is responsible for the general livable 
qualities of the house; one can be comfortable, at least physically, in a house of 
an ugly exterior, provided the rooms are large, well shaped and pleasant; and if 
they are well furnished and well decorated one may find even the most impos¬ 
sible exterior to be compatible with comfort, although one may have to hurry like 
anything to get inside, and shut a mental door on the exterior. Of course such a 
house can never be completely satisfactory; nobody likes to think that he has to 
avoid looking at the outside of his house, and that the outdoor living, upon which 
we are becoming so dependent in this country, is beautiful only when one looks 
away from the house in which one lives.” 

How shall the exterior of the house look? What type of archi¬ 
tecture will be used? The lot, location, and locality will have some¬ 
thing to do with this. Unless one is an expert in house design or 
has had special training along this line, it is highly desirable that 
good advice and counsel be secured for this part of the jobj how¬ 
ever, one can get some ideas by looking through the house plan 
books. The better the authorities who wrote these books, the better 
the architecture in the books. So look over good books of well- 
designed houses. Then, too, there are many good books dealing 
with domestic architecture available in our libraries. These are 
aids to getting an appreciation of the earmarks of good designs, 

138 


What About the Outside? 


139 


as well as to finding out just what style of architecture the planner 
likes best. These books will also assist in deciding many things 
about the outside of the house when the time comes. Then, too, we 
get ideas from the way other people fix up their houses; many of 
the things they like we do not, but occasionally we pick up some¬ 
thing of great value and joy. To assist the builder in finding inter¬ 
esting books that will be helpful in this matter, a bibliography has 
been added to this book. 

There are many different kinds and styles of architecture. Per¬ 
haps the most popular in this country are Colonial, English, Italian, 
and Spanish. Typical examples of these various types are shown in 
the Figures 2 to 25. There are, of course, many variations of any 
type of architecture and this is especially true of the colonial. 

Almost any style of architecture can be used on any of the 
house shapes. There are some types, however, that just naturally 
fit into certain shapes better than any other. Some discussion of this 
has already been given. 

The dress or outside appearance of a house is very important. 
It can be a delightful object to look at or it can be otherwise, all at 
practically the same cost. It will pay in additional pleasure, as well 
as increased value, to have some good architectural help in finishing 
the house after one has played out the floor plan. 


Chapter X 


REMODELING 

The game, up to the present time, has dealt entirely with the 
planning of a new house. Its principal mission is to deal with new 
construction, hut 1 have found that it works in a very satisfactory 
way in the planning of remodeling work that is necessary for houses 
which have already been constructed. Many who have played the 
game of planning a house have already discovered this additional 
use for the game. I am, however, calling it to the attention of all, 
because quite frequently I find that this feature of the game has 
not been fully realized. 

The procedure in the use of the game for remodeling work is 
very simple. The first thing necessary is to get a complete floor plan 
of the house that is to be remodeled. This is laid out to the scale of 
Y inch to one foot, and, of course, it is made square and true in 
every way in order that it may be a true miniature reproduction of 
the floor plan of the house. Cross section paper, such as can be ob¬ 
tained at any stationer’s, works very nicely for this purpose. Then 
the various rooms, halls, porches, closets, etc., in their present size 
and shape, are cut out of the cardboard to the scale of Y inch to 
one foot. The new rooms to be added, as well as the new sizes 
suggested for the old rooms, are also cut out of cardboard to the 
same scale. 

The game now is the shifting of these cardboards around until 
they fit into the new house plan in the very best way. This, of 
course, will take some little time and study in shifting about. The 
size of rooms may need to be changed frequently in order to work 
out the most desirable arrangement. The cards, of course, are 
placed on the sketched present floor plan of the house, and as they 

140 


Remodeling 


141 


are shifted back and forth the present lines of the house, as well 
as the rooms, can be continually checked against the proposed re¬ 
arrangement and additions. 

The shapes of houses as given in Figure 1 can be used to help 
in this remodeling game. It is possible that some particular shape 
has a decided appeal over the present shape of the house. In that 
ease, play the cards to change the house from its present shape to 
the one desired. The possibilities of all the various shapes as they 
relate themselves to the present shape of the house to be remodeled 
is one to be given careful consideration. Often these various shapes 
will suggest solutions to the remodeling job which will make a 
more satisfactory solution to the problem than would have been 
found otherwise. 

The room sizes that are given in Chapter II will be of assistance 
in redesigning the old rooms. In this changing of the shape and 
size of rooms, the question of supporting partitions must be care¬ 
fully checked. If the one playing the remodeling game is not suffi¬ 
ciently versed in the important construction details of a house, then 
he would do well to call in a local carpenter and get information 
as to what partitions can be moved or removed with the least diffi 
culty and expense. 

In order to give some idea as to how this remodeling work can 
be done, I am showing a solution to a problem which came to me 
sometime ago from a farm home owner in Florida. The floor plan 
of the house, as it was before being remodeled, is given in Figure 
52. It will be noticed that if the dining room and kitchen were cut 
off, as the owner wished, the house would take an ell shape. They 
wanted to rearrange the house, add two porches, bath, and closets, 
and bring the kitchen and dining room in closer to the rest of the 
house. The suggested rearrangement of the house which I made is 
given in Figure 53. It will be noted that this house worked over 
very nicely from an ell shape into a rectangular shape. Of the many 
houses that have come to me to be remodeled, this is just one 
example of the help “the game” has given me in working out a 
desirable solution in the shortest period of time. 


142 


The Game of Planning a House 



Fig. 52. A SIX-ROOM FLORIDA FARM HOUSE SENT IN TO THE 
AUTHOR FOR REARRANGEMENT 

































































Remodeling 


143 



Fig. 53. THE SOLUTION OFFERED FOR THE REARRANGEMENT 
OF THE SIX-ROOM HOME SHOWN IN FIG. 52 






















































































144 


The Game of Planning a House 


After the various solutions to the remodeling have been worked 
out, and one is sure to be able to get a number, then the most satis¬ 
factory solution can be selected and the game played through with 
the larger blocks, miniature doors and windows, floor covering, 
anci furniture. 

A helpful publication dealing with this question of remodeling 
of a house that has to do more with the outside appearance is 
Transformation from an Old House to a New'Home . 1 

This, then, ends the story of how to play the game of planning 
a house. The author hopes that it will in a small way help the many 
present and prospective house and home owners to get more livable 
dwellings. 

1 Published by National Lumber Manufacturers’ Association, Washington, D. C. 


The End 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BOOKS 

General Information on House Location , Design , Construction 
and Location 


Bottomley, M. E .-The Design of 
Small Properties. New York: The Mac¬ 
millan Company, 1926. 

The author discusses landscape de¬ 
velopment of small properties in 
city and country; sets forth prin¬ 
ciples of design in arrangement of 
buildings, drives and walks, gar¬ 
dens and lawns; treats on the use 
of garden ornaments, care of trees 
and shrubs, and gives lists of flow¬ 
ers, trees and shrubs. 

Embury, Aymar II. The Dutch Co¬ 
lonial House. New York: R. M. Mc¬ 
Bride and Company, 1929. 

The first chapter gives a brief his¬ 
tory of the origin of the style. 
The book covers materials used in 
the house, treatment of the roof, 
doors and windows, general plan 
of the house, principal rooms, fur¬ 
niture and decoration. Illustrated 
with photographs of old examples 
of the Dutch Colonial House. 

Embury, Aymar II. The Livable 
House. (Out of print.) Livable House 
Series, Vol. 1. New York: Moffat 
Yard and Company, 1917. 

Treats of the choice of styles of 
architecture, with emphasis on Ital¬ 


ian, English, and Colonials. Writ¬ 
ten with special consideration for 
the needs of the builder of mod¬ 
erate income. Attractively illus¬ 
trated. 

Goodnow, Ruby Ross, and Adams, 
Raine. The. Honest House. New York: 
The Century Company, 1914. 

A book that presents examples of 
the usual problems that confront 
the home builder, together with an 
exposition of the architectural prin¬ 
ciples which underlie them. Espe¬ 
cially devoted to the useful and 
beautiful in the small house. A 
valuable and suggestive book on the 
artistic phases of house building. 
Many illustrations and plans. 

Gray, Greta. House and Home. 
Lippincott’s Home Manuals. Phila¬ 
delphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 
1923. 

Not a technical book, but one for 
the general reader who is interested 
in house design and construction. 
The sanitary, economic, social, and 
architectural problems involved in 
housing are discussed. The discus¬ 
sion includes location, plans, ma¬ 
terials, construction, plumbing, 
145 


146 


Bibliography 


heating, lighting, ventilation, and 
the grounds about the house. 

Greeley, William Roger. The 
Essentials of Architecture. New York: 
D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1927. 
Written to help the reader to rec¬ 
ognize beauty in all kinds of build¬ 
ings. Brings out the good and the 
bad in various buildings and shows 
just why a building is good or bad; 
thus are brought out the principles 
underlying good construction. 

Halbert, Blanche (ed.). The 
Better Hornes Manual. Chicago: The 
University of Chicago Press, 1931. 

An excellent compilation of infor¬ 
mation for everyone who is think¬ 
ing of. building or remodeling a 
house.. Contains concise and au¬ 
thoritative articles on financing, 
planning, building, finishing, and 
furnishing a home. 

Hamlin, Talbot Faulkner. The 
Enjoyment of Architecture. New York: 
Duffield and Company, 1916. 

A well-illustrated explanation of 
the principles of architecture; con¬ 
tains many good examples of archi¬ 
tecture in this country and abroad. 
Special attention is given to ma¬ 
terials, walls, roofs, doorways,' win¬ 
dows, and chimneys. 

Hering, Oswald C. Economy in 
Home Building. New York:. R. M. 
McBride and Company, 1924. 

Information on building, partic¬ 
ularly for the prospective home 
builder. An informal discussion of 
the snares and pitfalls of building. 
Includes town, suburban, and coun¬ 
try houses. Attractively illustrated. 


House Beautiful Building Annual , 
The , 1925 and 1926. Boston: Atlantic 
Monthly Company, 1925 and 1926. 
An aid to home builders, dealing 
with planning, financing, con¬ 
structing, and equipping the house. 
The Appendix contains answers to 
many questions that puzzle the 
house builder. Splendid illustra¬ 
tions. 

House Beautiful Gardening Man¬ 
ual , The. Boston: Atlantic Monthly 
Company, 1926. 

An aesthetic and practical guide for 
all garden lovers. The book em¬ 
phasizes the beautiful, appropriate, 
and practical in planning the sur¬ 
roundings for the home. Lists of 
plants with instructions for their 
growth are included. Many appro¬ 
priate illustrations. 

Jones, Robert T. (ed.). Small 
Homes of Architectural Distinction. 
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1929. 
Profusely illustrated with designs 
•and floor plans of houses from 
three to six rooms in size. The 
book stresses the importance of the 
modeling of the house, the shape 
and contour of its walls and roof, 
the selection of materials, the char¬ 
acter of the architecture, and the 
adaptation of the house to the 
specific conditions of the site. The 
houses illustrated in this book are 
some of the types of plans that are 
distributed through the Architects’ 
Small House Bureau. 

Mead, Marcia. Homes of Charac¬ 
ter. New York: Dodd, Mead & Com¬ 
pany, 1926. 

This book presents in a clear, non¬ 
technical manner the development 


Bibliography 


147 


and appreciation of the various 
styles of architecture most suitable 
for a honve. The book leads the 
prospective builder to visualize the 
house on a basis of correct princi¬ 
ples of beautiful and reasonable 
construction. 

Post, Emily. Personality of a House: 
The Blue Book of Home Design and 
Decoration. New York: Funk & Wag- 
nalls Company, 1930. 

Practical suggestions on home build¬ 
ing and furnishing. The book con¬ 
tains a history of house building in 
America, together with an outline 
of the fundamental principles of 
architectural beauty. Types of pe¬ 
riod houses are taken up; the pos¬ 
sibilities of each room in the house 
are discussed. One chapter is de¬ 
voted to a discussion of the gar¬ 
den. A well-balanced and very 
readable book on the design of 
house and garden. 

Power, Ethel B. The Smaller 
American House. Boston: Little, 
Brown, and Company, 1927. 

Fifty-five houses of the less expen¬ 
sive type selected from the recent 
work of architects in all parts of 
the country; attractive and prac¬ 
tical houses, with brief, clear cap¬ 
tions describing each. 

The President’s Conference on 
Home Building and Home Owner¬ 
ship. Final Reforts of Committees (1 1 
Volumes). Washington, D. C., 1932. 
Volume I. Planning for Residen¬ 
tial Districts: City Planning, Sub¬ 
division's, Utilities, Landscape 
Planning. 

Volume 2. Home Finance and 


Taxation: Loans, Assessments and 
Taxes on Residential Property. 

Volume 3. Slums, Large-Scale 
Housing and Decentralization: 
Blighted Areas and Slums, Large- 
Scale Operations, Business and 
Housing, Industrial Decentraliza¬ 
tion. 

Volume 4. Home Ownership, In¬ 
come and Types of Dwellings: 
Home Owning and Renting, In¬ 
vestment Factors, Dwelling Types, 
Social and Economic Considera¬ 
tions, Income Levels and Home 
Purchase. 

Volume 5. House Design, Con¬ 
struction and Equipment: Plan¬ 
ning, Building, Sanitation and 
Equipment of Dwellings. 

Volume 6. Negro Housing: Phys¬ 
ical Aspects, Social and Economic 
Factors, Home Ownership and Fi¬ 
nancing. 

Volume 7. Farm and Village Hous¬ 
ing: Housing Conditions and Prob¬ 
lems, Design and Construction, 
Farmstead Planning, Beautifica¬ 
tion, Economic and Educational 
Aspects. 

Volume 8. Housing and the Com¬ 
munity: Home Repair and Remod¬ 
eling, Relation of Housing to 
Health, Delinquency, Industrial 
Efficiency, Safety, Citizenship, 
Recreation, Home Improvement 
and Remodeling. 

Volume 9. Household Manage¬ 
ment and Kitchens: Planning 
Household Activities, Equipment 
of Work Areas. 

Volume 10. Homemaking, Home 
Furnishing and Information Serv- 


148 


Bibliography 


ices: Housing and Family Life, 
Furniture Budgets and Design, 
Home Information Centers. 

Volume 11. Housing Objectives 
and Programs: Housing Problems, 
Technological Developments, Leg¬ 
islation, Standards, Objectives, 
Education, Service, Organizations, 
Housing Research. 

Price, C. Matlack. The Practical 
Book of Architecture. Philadelphia: 
J. B. Lippincott Company, 1916. 

Covers architecture as an art and 
science. Of interest to the prospec¬ 
tive builder, beginners in the study 
of architecture, and the general 
reader. Excellent illustrations. 

Robinson, L. Eugene. Domestic 
Architecture. New York: Macmillan 
Company, 1921. 

A book of useful information on 
the principles underlying the de¬ 
signing and remodeling of dwell¬ 
ing houses. Fispecially intended to 
be of service to those teaching cor¬ 
rect architecture for the home. 


Glossary of architectural terms. 
Smaller House, The. London: Archi¬ 
tectural Press, Ltd., 1924. 

An attractive book on the smaller 
English house, giving selected ex¬ 
amples of post-war English domes¬ 
tic architecture. Includes a small 
section on bungalows. At the back 
is a table giving the cost of most 
of the houses in the book. 

Wallis, Frank E. A-B-C of Archi¬ 
tecture. New York: Harper & Broth¬ 
ers, 1915. 

Architectural terms; architectural 
history. 

White, Charles Elmer. Success¬ 
ful Mouses and How to Build Them. 
New York: Macmillan Co., 1916. 

A rather comprehensive discussion 
of all details involved in planning 
and building a house. Chapter III 
sets forth the distinguishing char¬ 
acteristics of the various architec¬ 
tural styles. Gives legal documents 
involved in house contracting and 
building. 


BULLETINS AND PAMPHLETS 


Financing 

Gries, John M. and Curran, 
Thomas M. Present Home Financing 
Methods. U. S. Bureau of Standards, 
B.H. 12. Washington: Government 
Printing Office, 1928. 

Gries, John M.and Taylor, James 
S. How to Own Your Home. Publi¬ 
cation No. 7, February, 1931. Wash¬ 
ington: Better Homes in America, 
1929. 


Design 

Architects’ Small House Serv¬ 
ice Bureau, Inc. Minneapolis, Minn.: 
Four portfolios: Colonial Homes; 
English- Homes; Modern American 
Homes; Spanish- Homes. 

Help for the Man Who Wants to 
Build. 

How to Plan, Finance and Build 
Your Home. 

Your Future Home. 


Bibliography 


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National Lumber Manufacture 
hrs’ Association. Transformation from 
an Old House to a Nezv Home. Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., 1930. 

For Home Lovers , 1929. 

Modern Horne Interiors, 1929. 

Phelan, Vincent B. The Care and 
Repair of the House. U. S. Depart¬ 
ment of Commerce, Division of Build¬ 
ing and Housing. Washington: Gov¬ 
ernment Printing Office, 1931. 

United States Department of 
Commerce. Hozv to Judge a House. 
Washington: Government Printing Of¬ 
fice, 1931. 

Deane G. Carter and Madge 
Johnson. Built-in Equipment for 
Home Convenience. University of 
Arkansas Extension, Circular No. 244. 
Fayetteville, Ark.: College of Agricul¬ 
ture, 1927. 

Wichers, H. E. Designs for Kan¬ 
sas Farm Homes. Bull. 23. Manhat¬ 
tan: Kansas State Agricultural College, 
1929. 

The Design of the Kansas Home. 
Bull. 19. Manhattan: Kansas State 
Agricultural College, 1927. 

ROOMS 

Bedroom 

Agricultural and Mechanical Col¬ 
lege of Texas. Bed Rooms of Comfort , 
by Mrs. Bernice Claytor. Extension 
Service Bull. B7 5. College Station, 
Texas, 1931. 

Cellar 

U. S. Bureau of Public Roads. Mak¬ 
ing Cellars Dry. U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Farmers’ Bull. 1 572. 
Washington: Government Printing Of¬ 
fice, 1929. 

Closets 

State College of Washington. The 


Clothes Closet , by Gladys Gallup. Ex¬ 
tension Service Circ. No. 6, Pullman, 
Washington, 1930. 

Kitchen 

Committed on Farm and Village 
Housing, President’s Conference on 
Home Building and Home Ownership. 
Kitchens and Other Work Centers. 
Washington, D, C., 1931. 

Delineator Home Institute, Delinea¬ 
tor Kitchen and Laundry Plans and 
Equipment. New York: Butterick Pub¬ 
lishing Company, 1928. 

Well Planned Kitchens . New York: 
Butterick Publishing Company, 1930. 

Good Housekeeping Institute. Con¬ 
venient Kitchens. New York: Good 
Housekeeping, 1929. 

Gray, Greta, Convenient Kitchens. 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Farmers’ Bull. 1513. Washington: 
Government Printing Office, 1926. 

Hoosier Manufacturing Company. 
Planning the Modern Kitchen. New 
Castle, Ind. 

Iowa State College. Finishes and 
Furnishings for the Kitchen. Home 
Management Booklet. Ames, Iowa, 
1929. 

Planning and Equipping the Kitchen. 
Home Economics Bull. 8. Ames, Iowa, 
1923. 

The Step-Saving Kitchen. Home 
Management Booklet. Ames, Iowa, 
1928. 

Louisiana State University. The 
Woman's Workshop; four bulletins on 
the kitchen, by Iris S. Davenport. 
Baton Rouge, La., 1931. 

Michigan State College. Farm Kitch¬ 
ens t by F. E. Fogle and Marian Rog¬ 
ers Smith, Extension Division, Bull. 


150 


Bibliography 


No. 37 (Reprint). East Lansing, 
Mich., 1928. 

Montana State College of Agricul¬ 
ture and Mechanic Arts. The Kitchen, 
by Gertrude Hoffman, revised by Nora 
L. Hulbush. Extension Bull 75. Boze¬ 
man, Mont., 1925. 

New York State College of Home 
Economics. Planning the Home Kitch- 
en , by Helen Binkerd Young. Cornell 
Bulletin for Homemakers, Lesson 108. 
Ithaca, New York, 1926. 

Ohio State University. Just Kitch¬ 
ens, by Geneva M. Bane and H. P. 
Twitchell. Extension Service Bull. No. 
66. Columbus, Ohio, 1929. 

Purdue University, Department of 
Agricultural Extension. The Farm 
Home Kitchen, by Kathryne McMa¬ 
hon. Extension Bull. 141. LaFayette, 
Ind., 1926. 

University of Maine. The Horne 
Kitchen. College of Agriculture, Bull. 
No. 196, by Edna M. Cobb, Orono, 
Maine,. 1951. 


University of Nebraska, College of 
Agriculture. The Convenient Kitchen , 
by Esther Warner. Extension Bull. 60. 
Lincoln, Nebraska, 1920. 

Utah Agricultural College. Rural 
Kitchen Improvement , by Effie S. Bar- 
rows. Circ. 9. Logan, Utah, 1928. 

Living Room 

University of Tennessee. The Liv¬ 
ing Room That Is Livable , by Lillian 
L. Keller. Extension Service Publica¬ 
tion 134. Knoxville, Tenn., 1930. 

Utah Agricultural College. One 
Hundred Points on Room Improve¬ 
ment. Logan, Utah. 

Porches 

The Common Brick Manufacturers’ 
Association of America. Are You Proud 
of Your Front Porch? Cleveland, Ohio. 

Exchange Sawmills Sales Company. 
A Sim Room for Your Home. Kansas 
City, Mo. 

A Sleeping Porch for Your Home. 
Kansas City, Mo. 


(Some associations and government agencies that assist with small house build¬ 
ing by issuing publications and answering inquiries.) 


Architects’ Small House Service Bu¬ 
reau, 1200 Second Avenue South, 
Minneapolis, Minn. 

Better Homes in America, 165 3 
Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D. C. 

Bureau of Agricultural Engineering, 
United States Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, Washington. D. C. 

Bureau of Home.Economics, United 
States Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. 

Division of Building and Housing, 
Bureau of Standards, United States 
Department of Commerce, Washing¬ 
ton, D. C. 


In each state there is a land-grant 
institution which may be either an ag¬ 
ricultural and mechanical college or a 
university with such college as a part 
of it. Many of these institutions con¬ 
duct research in housing and house 
equipment and publish the results of 
such research in bulletins which are 
distributed, without charge, to the res¬ 
idents of the state. A partial list of 
these bulletins has been given; a com¬ 
plete list can be obtained by addressing 
the extension service or the experiment 
stations of these colleges or universities. 

















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